A SHEEP farmer who lost 13 sheep in one night to either wild dogs or town dogs gone wild will shoot to kill if he catches them on his property again.
Mark Tucker said he reckons either one or two large dogs are responsible for the slaughter of his sheep.
“They are large-sized dogs judging by the footprints and the bite and crush marks on the sheep – it took a lot of force to leave the damage that they left,” he said.
“As the property is adjacent to Wongarbon I guess that it was village dogs that have wandered due to not being contained by their owner.
“I have lain in wait for sheep-killing dogs on numerous occasions in the past and it has been successful and this time is no different from those occasions.”
Mr Tucker said dogs killing his sheep is an ongoing issue.
“Due to the proximity to the village this has been an ongoing issue and I have had enough, this will never go away, but can be reduced if dog owners took better care of their animals,” he said.
“The current trend of people who need to have a pig dog to carry around on the back of their ute to chase and maul animals – not just pigs – is a significant concern as the dogs do this for sport.
“I have informed the local ranger at Dubbo Council, but until I can catch the dog or dogs in question, there is no use wasting their time.”
Mr Tucker said while people do not contain their dogs at night the problem will continue.
“This problem will never go away because all dogs no matter what size have an instinct to do this on different scales,” he said.
“Some people should not own dogs because they don’t realise what they are capable of. They don’t take enough care with enclosing their animals in their properties.......and this is the distressing result.”