From the "Illawarra Mercury"

Nowra woman’s dogs shot dead after she tripped and dropped leads.

"It was perfectly within the rights of a farmer, living at Nowra Hill, to shoot three dogs that entered his neighbour’s property, and allegedly attacked a kangaroo.

The dogs were reportedly heading towards livestock, but in four quick shots, they were killed on Friday, March 16.

Though the farmer cannot prove the dogs were aggressive, or in the vicinity of livestock, or they attacked a kangaroo, rangers have taken his word for it, and the case is closed as far as they are concerned."
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/5316108/nowra-womans-dogs-shot-dead-after-she-tripped-and-dropped-leads/

Dear Is Mise,

From your post, it appears that if the lady in question
dropped her dog leads - the dogs would have had to have
collars on them - indicating that they were someone's
pets. Therefore no matter what - the farmer should have
just made a phone call to the proper authorities to
remove the dogs - NOT shoot them.

It appears that there may have been disagreements between
the neighbours and the farmer took it out on the dogs.
Which definitely would not improve their neighbourly
relations.

Foxy,

"It appears that there may have been disagreements between
the neighbours and the farmer took it out on the dogs.
Which definitely would not improve their neighbourly
relations"

I missed that bit, where was it?

Farmers have the right to shoot dogs on their properties. End of story. An Adelaide radio personality had the throats of both his Jack Russells cut by a farmer in the Adelaide Hills. Not an eyelid was batted.

Foxy,
If the woman's story were true, all the dogs would have been dragging leads. No mention of that. Likely also that at least one lead would have snagged and secured one dog. Again no mention.

Property owners have right to shoot uncontrolled dogs on their property and that law should remain as is. A pack of three dogs can do a terrible lot of damage,in my experience.

If I had lost three dogs in the way the woman claimed, I would have alerted the neighbours to keep a look out.

a bit off the topic however the woman who shot the utubers yesterday was a vegan, a woman, an animal rights activist with peta). She was the perfect match for the abc's drum or q&a. How could somewone with such diversity do such monstrous things?

Dogs are deadly, even much loved pets. Any stock owner is entitled to protect his stock. No one who has seen the results of dogs attacking lambs could expect any less response.

Just last week a neighbour, a hobby farmer with only 30 acres, had 3 lambs killed. A few weeks ago he had 2 young alpacas killed. This bloke has covered pens he puts his stock in at night for protection, but these dogs came during the day, indicating pets dogs loose. It is an all too common story in hobby farm areas. The stock is often simply killed, not eaten, suggesting domestic dogs.

My son has tamed a fox, which comes around each night, & is eating from his fingers. He is torn between the likelihood that in making it less wary of people has probably signed it's death warrant, & that feeding it is probably saving someone's chooks. Although a fox is not likely to take anything bigger than chooks, I have suggested he doesn't tell the neighbour about his fox.

Dear Is Mise,

You asked me where I got the information from
for my earlier statement of -

"It appears that there may have been disagreement
between the neighbours..."

I got it from the link that you gave.

In it, it stated:

"There was some conjecture on social media around Karen's
level of culpability in the incident, as her dogs had escaped
her yard in the past."

And -

"She was told to fix her fencing and walk them on leads..."

So I made the assumption that perhaps there may have been
disagreement between the neighbours.

Of course it is only an assumption. I could be totally wrong.

Foxy,

" I could be totally wrong."

You might well be so.

The gun happy man is at it again, Issy I am glad to see you are starting a new discussion on your favorite hobby horse, killing of something, if its not children, its kangaroos and dogs.
I thought you were all in favour of killing kangaroos. If that's the case the dogs may have been attempting to perform a public service.

"Though the farmer cannot prove the dogs were aggressive, or in the vicinity of livestock, or they attacked a kangaroo, rangers have taken his word for it, and the case is closed as far as they are concerned."

Based on that I would think charges should be laid.

Though the old fuddy duddy cannot prove the kids were aggressive, or in the vicinity of his back shed, or they attacked his misses, police have taken his word for it, and the case is closed as far as they are concerned. Three funerals Monday.

A bit off the planet as usual runner. "How could somewone with such diversity do such monstrous things?" Maybe she was a religious nutter, or a nutter in general. Probably never seen the abc's drum or q&a where she would have been enlightened and therefore never contemplated such an evil act.

Paul,

The Rangers have to take his word for it as there were no witnesses and he was within the law.

Do you think that farmers should be required to take video footage of stock or other animals being killed before they fire a shot?

Would one sheep be enough or would you require one for every dog?

I like kangaroos, Paul, and haven't shot one or years, haven't even shot one, to put it out of its misery when it's lying on the road with a broken back or other terminal injuries; these days I just drive on.
To do the humane thing and kill it is illegal.

My father had a farm next to town in NSW and on occasions domestic dogs would enter our calf paddocks and get the calf down and rip it apart. Unfortunately we did not have a gun to defend the livestock but just a stock whip. It only takes one dog with a kill instinct to lead a pack of pet dogs into slaughter.

People who keep dogs as pets are a menace (it's not the dogs' fault). Dog owners are the ones who who should suffer if their animals 'worry' stock. Dogs will always have the pack instinct and the hunting/killing instinct. For heaven's sake, look at the two in the last month so who have mauled their owners' children! Dogs have a history of attacking humans, not just farm animals. The killer instinct cannot be bred out, of even those ridiculous designer breeds that need only a handle stuck up their bums for use as a mop.

Dear Is Mise,

I might also be right (smile).

Serious question - because I don't know? What's the law permitting a land owner or his representative, from shooting dogs on his property?

Foxy,

I don't think that you are right, on the evidence given (slight though it is) there is no indication that the dog owner and the farmer are neighbours, indeed the opposite, so your conjecture was made up of wishful thinking at best and your rubbishing of the farmer was in poor taste.

Sorry ttbn, I can't agree with you on this one.

I am very pleased that my daughter living with just her 18 month old baby on acreage has a large protective dog to help protect her.

In this day & age, when we are not allowed to protect ourselves or our family with force, I would not be without a large protective & moderately aggressive dog, to do that for me.

I fully accept that it is my responsibility to train that dog, or dogs, & keep them contained on my own property, but they offer the greatest deterrent to the toerags that we can have today.

Dear Is Mise,

I did not rubbish the farmer. I went on the evidence
that you gave us in your link and even though it may
have been slight as I stated I could be wrong (or
right). All I did was express an opinion. Just as
you did.
However, I did not call your opinion as being in
poor taste.

Dogs should be restrained from small children; no matter how trained or aggressive. I have seen tame dogs bite small children when the child is annoying the dog, and when the dog is aged. All dogs outside the property must be on leads and microchipped. In our street recently a blue healer able to guard the front of house attacked a Shih Tzu on a lead, costing the owner $90 in vet fees.

Hasbeen, like any animal normally in the wild, your sons 'tamed' fox will probably revert to its wild state at some time in the future. I raised many orphaned & injured Northern Brushtailed Possums during my time in Darwin. For the most they were either soft or hard released back into the bush or nearby to where they were found. Only one ever came back after release and that was in the suburban area of Karama where it could access food when I knew it was back in the neighbourhood. Every time she had a new joey on board she made enough noise in the bushes for several nights to let me know that a new family member had arrived, then she would disappear into the local bush.

On the subject of dogs (& cats) while we're at it. Cats contribute to the greatest loss of native fauna on this continent by far. There is estimated to be some 1.5 million cats living in a wild state today. Not counting your next door's moggy, who in most events if not locked inside the house at night, will find something "gamey" to gnaw upon, so that amounts to some 3 million plus small native animals and birds being eaten each and every day/night.

Up until a competent shooter (householder) took definitive action, there was a pack of feral & semi-feral dogs roaming the Howard Springs area for several years, attacking livestock, people and pets over an area from Palmerston to Bees Creek in outer Darwin. I have one friend who in 2006, used his bicycle as a shield to prevent his neighbour from being badly mauled by that pack in savage attack outside her front gate on the Gunn Point Rd. He himself was badly bitten on an elbow and a thigh, requiring 20 + stitches in that wound alone.

If it was established that the dogs had been aggressive in the past, I don't think any reasonable person would object to those dogs being shot if their family members, stock, or pets were directly threatened by being on the property.

Albie He is not trying to domesticate the fox.

He feeds his cat on the deck of my Granny flat he is living in at the moment. I feed my dog & cat out the back. This has led to the local magpies, pigeons, lorikeets & other flocks of birds coming round for a feed. Apparently the fox, like the maggies likes cat food, & comes around at night looking for leftovers.

He became used to my son having a cigarette out there, & now eats out of his hand. He has no desire to tame it, or go any further than he has. In fact he feels he has perhaps gone too far already.

Having lived in rural area, I am only too aware of the damage dogs (usually ex-domesticated dogs)can do to wildlife and livestock. I had a friend who in one night lost 3 sheep to dogs, one of which was still alive and partially eaten that had been in agony for hours. And the alternative to shooting these wild dogs is leaving bait that kills the dogs in a less than pleasant manner.

The supposition that farmers should be banned from shooting dogs their property is highly ill-informed and more likely to increase animal misery than reduce it.

Also, I have some scepticism as to the claim by the woman that she "dropped the leads".

The question posed is 'should farmers be allowed to shoot dogs on their property'? You all MUST answer YES, if it is allowed by law. There is no distinction as to what kind of dogs. We can all debate the keeping or not of dogs, but at the end of the day, if your dog strays onto a farm or someone else's property other than your own, they can be shot. End of. I do not understand this obsession with pets. Having always been busy and traveled a lot, I never wanted or needed a pet. As it turns out I am right. Just think, if we had no pets, so many problems would be eliminated in one fell swoop. As for keeping a dog for protection, how do you justify coming home one night and finding a dead guy in your home, who had clearly broken in to do no good. I for one would be happy. I'm not sure how the law would feel about it. When I hear stories of new borns dying of suffocation because their bloody pet cat decided to curl up on the baby's face to avail itself of the warmth of the baby's breath, well I don't care what some RSPCA moron has to say. Grab that bloody cat and give it the most painful death imaginable. Then I would start on the parents, though I think they will have the rest of their lives to suffer through a most painful life. So, yes anyone, not just farmers should be allowed to shoot dogs or any animal that is considered a pest or a threat, on their property.