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.