{"id":62,"date":"2019-02-13T17:02:21","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T17:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/?p=62"},"modified":"2024-05-18T18:21:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-18T10:21:29","slug":"protect-the-dingo-beloved-totem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/protect-the-dingo-beloved-totem\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect the Dingo, beloved totem"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author vcard\" style=\"color: #33cccc;\">Susan Cruttenden <\/span>&#8211; <\/span><span class=\"posted-on\"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2019-02-13T14:18:38+00:00\">13\/02\/2019 &#8211; <span style=\"color: #33cccc;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/districtbulletin.com.au\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #33cccc;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">District Bulletin<\/a><\/span><\/time><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-67 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protect-the-dingo-Feb2019.jpg?resize=850%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protect-the-dingo-Feb2019.jpg?w=850&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protect-the-dingo-Feb2019.jpg?resize=300%2C212&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protect-the-dingo-Feb2019.jpg?resize=768%2C542&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protect-the-dingo-Feb2019.jpg?resize=100%2C70&amp;ssl=1 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><em>This is a follow-up to Susan\u2019s informative piece on dingoes last year. Herewith, more background and latest information on what is happening to this persecuted native species &#8211; a strong totem animal for many indigenous people; an important part of the natural ecosystem; and dear to most dog lovers.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9532\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220325050143\/https%3A\/\/districtbulletin.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dingo-pups-Feb2019.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9532\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220325045740\/https%3A\/\/districtbulletin.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dingo-pups-Feb2019-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Dingo pups at Toolern Vale Sanctuary. (Allan Baxter)\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/span><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Dingo pups at Toolern Vale Sanctuary. (Allan Baxter)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">THE DINGO IS a totem animal for many indigenous Australians. At a recent meeting held to protest logging in Corunna Forest (where dingoes are reputed to live) a local said,\u00a0\u201cWhen an Aboriginal man goes through the law he might become an emu man, a kangaroo man, or a dingo man.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u201cThose dingoes watch over the dog men and make them spiritually strong. They do their job \u2014 they are part of the Dreaming. You don\u2019t kill your dingo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In certain areas dingoes are believed to be direct reincarnations of ancestors. Traditionally they\u00a0occupy\u00a0a privileged place in Aboriginal culture and are featured in stories, rock carvings and cave paintings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The dingo is a native animal that has survived\u00a0on the Australian continent for thousands of years but is now under great threat. The reasons for the drastic decline in numbers are to do with habitat destruction, trapping, shooting, and hybridisation (breeding with domestic dogs).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time to vote for representatives who care for nature and wildlife<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">While many people have only heard of the dingo as a bloodthirsty menace to livestock and children (\u201cA dingo ate my baby\u201d) the reality is very different; as those who have known and loved them will testify.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Although dingoes can be tamed, they prove a challenge to domesticate. After years of brilliant adaptation to life in the wild, they now fulfill an important ecological role as\u00a0apex predator keeping in check\u00a0the proliferation of feral species including foxes and cats, according to some researchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Australian Dingo Foundation \u2014 in exploding some of the myths around dingoes \u2014 maintains that the few\u00a0publicised\u00a0incidents of \u201cattacks\u201d on humans\u00a0have been recorded in areas such as Fraser Island where dingoes\u00a0become habituated to those\u00a0tourists who feed them illegally and cause them to lose their instinctive fear and wariness of people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The dingo is forced into settled areas when its natural habitat is destroyed by farming. Mating with roaming\u00a0domestic dogs then\u00a0results in dingo lookalikes that cannot readily be distinguished from the pure dingo strain even when they\u2019re\u00a0dead.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>Latest cruel scheme, back to bounty and colonial days<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The latest, most expensive and perhaps the cruelest wild dingo reduction scheme of all is the federal government\u2019s approval of a Wild Dog\/Dingo\u00a0Management Plan. This is appealing to three sectors: landowners who believe it\u00a0is the best way of protecting their livestock from dog\/dingo\u00a0attack; hunters who enjoy the thrill of the kill; and payment for dog trappers.\u00a0(In Victoria there is the\u00a0extra inducement of\u00a0$120\u00a0bounty for amateur shooters who hand in parts of dog\/dingo carcasses to specified collection centres.)<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9533\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220325050147\/https%3A\/\/districtbulletin.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dingo-trapping-Feb2019.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9533\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220325045743\/https%3A\/\/districtbulletin.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dingo-trapping-Feb2019-300x156.jpg?resize=300%2C156&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"dingo-trapping\" width=\"300\" height=\"156\" \/><\/a><\/span><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #000000;\">Trapped dingo<\/span><br \/><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Sad enough if it\u2019s your domestic dog that has strayed, but a co-ordinated plan of shooting, poisoning and trapping, could be the final nail in the coffin of the dingo species (<em>canus dingo<\/em>) as it joins the shameful\u00a0list of Australian animal\u00a0extinctions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The federal government, state governments and local land service control groups pay lip service to the idea of preserving biodiversity, but this worthy objective is lost in translation with a scheme that varies from state to state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The vast majority of people at our local community wild dog control meeting were landholders alarmed by dingo\/wild dog attacks on their stock. There was little publicity for the scheme, but official description and illustrations for the program give the wrong impression that all wild dogs are Dingoes when in fact a very small percentage are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">It is not known how many dogs\/dingoes\u00a0will be killed or how the elimination plan is to be effectively and humanely policed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>1080 so cruel and dangerous it has been banned elsewhere<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Where is the humane animal treatment in the advocated use of 1080, the preferred poison used in Australia which is so dangerous it has been banned in nearly every overseas country? [Except New Zealand.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Animal Liberation Council says \u201cConsidering the sheer size of the Australian continent and the millions of points at which hunters may kill, there is no conceivable way that authorities can regulate hunting activity to ensure targeted animals are dispatched quickly and as painlessly as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u201cFurthermore so-called pest and game animals are often exempt from the cruelty laws that protect our companion animals\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9534\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-72\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protector-of-the-sheep-Feb2019-1.jpg?resize=400%2C250&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protector-of-the-sheep-Feb2019-1.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/protector-of-the-sheep-Feb2019-1.jpg?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/span><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Maremma dog \u2014 protector of the sheep. (Andy Fitzsimon)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Little or no\u00a0consideration is being given to alternative ways for farmers to protect their stock, such as Maremma dogs, fencing, and alarm systems, while the recommendations and educated\u00a0opinions of scientists, ecologists, Aborigines and of organisations such as The Wilderness Society, National Parks and Wildlife Society, The Centre for Compassionate Conservation, and The Animal Justice Party have largely been ignored.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">John Woinarski Professor of Conservation Biology at the Charles Darwin University believes that \u201cAs a society we should be caring more for our nature, and we\u2019re not. The legal protection we\u2019ve got, and the funding mechanisms are simply insufficient, as is the extent to which we care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Antikarinya elder Bill Lennon, brought up in Port Augusta, aims to work a cattle property and at the same time live in harmony with nature. He mourns the loss of Dingo music and says \u201cThey were locked out of their country. Like us. But we are the people and these are the animals that have been treading this land for thousands of years\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">We acknowledge Aboriginal custodianship of the land when we listen to the Aboriginal \u201cWelcome to Country\u201d pledge at the start of official occasions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>It must be time for all Australians to show support for that pledge by voting at the next elections for representatives willing to pass and enforce laws that will be effective in giving real protection to our environment and threatened wildlife, including the Dingo<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #33cccc;\">Source<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"accesspres-mag-breadcrumbs\" class=\"clearfix\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #33cccc;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221101042617\/https:\/\/districtbulletin.com.au\/another-australian-on-the-threatened-species-list-the-dingo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"color: #33cccc;\">See also: <span class=\"current\">Another Australian on the Threatened Species List: The Dingo<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Susan Cruttenden &#8211; 13\/02\/2019 &#8211; District Bulletin This is a follow-up to Susan\u2019s informative piece on dingoes last year. Herewith, more background and latest information on what is happening to this persecuted native species &#8211; a strong totem animal for many indigenous people; an important part of the natural ecosystem; and dear to most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-dingoes-maligned-and-hunted"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}