Devastated farmer who watched her beloved sheepdog die an agonising death after eating fox bait laced with 1080 wants the deadly poison banned
- Maryanne Dalglish lost her Maremma sheepdog to baits laced with deadly 1080
- The baits used to protect livestock are killing native animals across Australia
- After eating the bait, dogs become disoriented and die within a matter of hours
A farmer who had to watch her beloved sheepdog die an agonising death in front of her after he ate some of the deadly poison 1080, is calling for it to be banned.
Maryanne Dalglish, from St Lawrence, Queensland, lost six of her Maremma sheepdogs in October last year after her neighbour placed baits around her property to kill foxes and wild dogs.
Ms Dalglish relied on the sheepdogs to guard her 150 goats, but has had to cut her stock down to 32 goats after being left with just two dogs.
Maryanne Dalglish, from St Lawrence, Queensland, lost six of her Maremma sheepdogs (stock image) in October last year after her neighbour placed baits around her property
She said that one of her pets started convulsing on the floor and died within hours.
‘I couldn’t get near him until he was gone, he was savage, growling and biting his stomach. It would have been better to take a gun over and shoot him. It is the cruellest death,’ she told the ABC.
‘After this, I want 1080 banned.’
Baits are put out to kill wild dogs and foxes which prey on livestock, but Maremma dogs serve the same function.
They are often laced with 1080 powder that can kill animals that come in contact with it.
Ms Dalglish wasn’t the only farmer who lost dogs to the deadly poison.
The baits (pictured) are laced with 1080 to protect livestock from wild dogs and other predators, but many native animals are being killed after eating them
Jennifer Pirret from Western Australia said she was lucky that she had a shotgun to put her dogs out of their misery after 1080 killed her two Maremmas, a border collie, a rottweiler and five goats.
Ms Pirret was horrified after finding her border collie two weeks after it went missing, its body twisted around the bottom of a tree.
After the loss of her several pets, The Department of Biosecurity, Conservation and Attractions announced baiting would be banned within the national park near her property.
Christopher Johnson, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, at the University of Tasmania told Daily Mail Australia that Maremma dogs benefit the environment.
‘I think the main way in which 1080 threatens ecosystems is by killing dingoes. Dingoes are beneficial for ecosystems because they control foxes and cats, and they also control populations of kangaroos and (possibly) deer, that can damage vegetation if their numbers get too high,’ Mr Johnson said.
People must have a permit to use baiting in Australia and there must be notification of where baits are placed in order to protect native animals (pictured is the Maremma sheepdogs)
‘I am in favour of using Maremmas (and other kinds of livestock guardian dogs) to protect livestock, because they fix the problem without killing dingoes, so the benefits of dingoes remain.’
Another woman from Hivesville, Queensland, lost six of her Maremma sheepdogs to the same toxic bait.
‘My seven-year-old son saw the first one die. Nothing should have to die like that. They run until they wedge themselves or crash into something and die,’ Michelle Oberle said.
Ms Oberle said the property wasn’t in a known baiting area and that she didn’t know how her dogs would have had contact with 1080.
Across Australia, people must have a permit to place baits, and there must be notification in the areas where they can be found.