THE death of more little penguins in a protected area in Tasmania’s North-West has sparked calls for professional snipers to be hired to shoot the rogue dogs believed to be responsible.

Fourteen dead penguins were discovered by a Stanley resident at the town’s penguin viewing area on Sunday night.

It is believed the penguins were attacked by dogs and some of the dead birds have been taken to Department of Primary Industries laboratories in Launceston to determine how they died.

The discovery follows the deaths of 50 penguins in Sulphur Creek over the course of last year – some of which died by human hands and others by dog attack.

In February, police charged two teenagers over the deaths of nine of those penguins.

There was another mass killing in West Ulverstone in 2009 during which 90 penguins were killed in seven incidents over a four-week period.

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the latest discovery had reignited a long-held anger over the devastation caused to little penguins by rogue dogs.

“It is time to take stronger action than mitigation measures to make it harder for dogs to get into penguin burrows,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“We could train guard dogs to protect the penguin burrows as has been done in some other places or we could, like they did in 2009 and 2015 in Sydney, hire professional snipers to shoot rogue dogs.

“Residents in the [Sydney suburb of] North Head area were letterboxed and it was made very clear that if dogs were found in certain areas and certain times they would be shot.”

Senator Whish-Wilson said he was a dog owner, but he was on the side of the penguin in this debate.

“The little penguins simply cannot defend themselves against dogs,” he said.