WILD dog baiting and trapping has begun in Victoria with the start of autumn and kills are already being counted in East Gippsland.

On the day Stock & Land visited the Iguana Creek area, outside Bairnsdale, Anthony Websdale shot a wild dog he caught on camera only the day before.

It was welcome news for Trevor and Alan Howden, brothers who farm Merino sheep, fat lambs from first-cross ewes and cattle on 900ha at Iguana Creek.

They recently lost 25pc of their pasture and fences in the bushfire that swept through the area on February 9.

The brothers are currently yard-weaning 7-month-old lambs close by the house so they can protect them from wild dog attacks.

Proactive trapping and baiting has paid off for them, with their lambing percentages rising from 70pc in 2012 to 120pc this year.

Trevor Howden is coordinator of the Glenaladale Landcare Group’s wild dog baiting and trapping program on private land, an initiative funded by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI).

“Dad had a problem with wild dogs in the 1950s but it was probably 40 years since the last sheep was taken,” Trevor Howden said.

“We began losing lambs after the 2006-07 bushfires and we were talking to the local dog trapper and he followed up and killed three dogs.

“Then in April 2012, we had a lot of twins born out of the cross-bred ewes but when it came to marking, we only marked 40 lambs.

“’Where have all the bloody twins gone? we wondered.’

“Then of the survivors, as they grew, we began finding half-lambs and lambs still alive but with their intestines pulled out.

“We lost hundreds of sheep in those couple of years.

“We began talking with other farmers and people said they were seeing packs of dogs.

“So last year we began the proactive baiting and trapping program, with funding from AWI.

“It’s been so successful we applied to AWI again, for an 18-month program starting this week.”

The program provides funding for baits for local landholders to put out on their land and, if they choose, the services of a professional trapper to track the dogs and lay baits.

Some groups have also used funding to buy dog traps for local landholders to use.

Cameras are also used to record where dogs are, helping to build a database of dogs seen across the district.

And when a dog is trapped and killed, that is recorded against the photograph.

It is helping the trappers, both contractors and government employed, to share resources and identify the ranging patterns of the dogs.

“I send photos to George and he sends me what he has and we’re able to compare if we’re after the same dogs or not,” said Anthony Websdale, a private contractor.

“Yesterday I put the cameras up and I’ve already got vision of a couple of yellow dogs.”

George Thompson is the wild dog controller employed out of the Bairnsdale office of the Department of Environment and Primary Industry (DEPI) and covers the district from Briagolong to Bruthen and into the high country.

“I haven’t had any incident reports, seen or heard reports this year but I’ve already killed 15 dogs,” Mr Thompson said.

He is proactive baiting and trapping on public land.

“It [the wild dogs] is like the Magic Pudding, it keeps on giving,” Mr Thompson said.

“Proactive trapping requires long term knowledge and view of what is going on in the area.

“It’s just like any pest control – it’s got to be ongoing, because you take one out and another comes in to take its place.

“The Glenaladale program has been very successful.”

Mr Thompson said he had spoken to a local landowner early that morning who saw five dogs near his house.

Mr Howden said more than 30 dogs were trapped in the past 12 months in his neighbourhood.

This year he expects the program will be taken up by 22 landholders in the Glenaladale to Flaggy Creek territory.

Mr Howden recommended landholders apply to their local Landcare groups and DEPI for assistance in getting the chemical users certificate and the 1080 bait endorsement.

“There’s funding available to assist people,” he said.

“And while you have to be careful handling the baits, there’s a lot of myths people believe about them.

“They are biodegradable and timeframes apply to how long baits can be out for.

“It’s easy enough to comply.”

“You can’t go past meat baits for effectiveness – dogs love meat,” Mr Websdale said.

“This is the optimal time – in autumn – to use meat baits.

Eleven landholder groups across East Gippsland will be receiving wild dog baits this month to put out on their properties as part of the AWI program.

DEPI is holding public meetings in East Gippsland and North East Victoria to discuss with farmers where baits will be laid on public land.

The first of these meetings were held at Buchan, Dargo, Orbost and Cann River last week and will be held throughout March and April.