MidCoast Council has humanely euthanised a dingo at South Forster, following a series of incidents that posed an increasing and unacceptable risk to community safety.
The action was taken in accordance with Council's Dingo Management Plan, following advice from dingo behaviour experts and consultation with representatives of the Aboriginal community.
Council's Dingo Management Plan recognises the cultural and ecological significance of dingoes in the MidCoast region. It applies a risk-management framework under which the behaviour of individual urban dingoes is monitored.
Dingoes that display behaviours above an established threshold, known as Class 4 behaviour, are considered to pose a substantial risk to human safety and become subject to targeted control. The framework is based on the dingo management model used on K'gari, (Fraser Island).
The dingo had been associated with several incidents involving behaviours of concern, prompting Council to commence ongoing monitoring. He was subsequently involved in a Class 4 incident, which triggered the requirement for lethal control under the Management Plan.
Because the dingo had developed a strong attachment to parts of the community, Council and representatives of the Aboriginal community made significant efforts to identify a suitable registered facility or sanctuary that could accept him. More than eight registered dingo facilities and sanctuaries were contacted.
These efforts were unsuccessful due to the animal's age and behaviour. Dingoes also cannot be lawfully captured and released into the wild in New South Wales under existing legislation.
Council understands that some people will be angry, saddened or upset by this outcome. Ernie was well known locally and people held different views about him. The decision to euthanise him was not taken lightly.
Repeated and frequent feeding and encouraging interactions had contributed to this particular dingo becoming less wary of people. Feeding does not necessarily make a dingo aggressive, but it can increase the number of interactions between people and dingoes and reduce their natural fear of humans.
This creates more opportunities for people to unintentionally trigger a response or for an interaction to escalate.
Dingoes must be allowed to remain wild and naturally shy. People should never feed or encourage dingoes, allow them access to domestic food sources, play with them or speak to them as though they are domestic dogs.
These actions can increase interactions between people and dingoes and contribute to escalating risks that may ultimately lead to targeted lethal control.
Council is reinforcing the message that dingoes should never be fed or encouraged in any way.
