(Aust)Please oppose plans to poison dogs with 1080

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Fwd from Animal Liberation NSW...

 

The NSW Government has approved an aerial dropping of deadly 1080 baits in

the Cooma district (southern NSW). The baiting program, set to begin on the

23 July 2001, is a short sighted and inhumane solution to the problem of

wild dogs that are harming sheep.

 

1080 baits cause an agonising death - the type of death that you would not

wish on your worst enemy. Dogs suffer in excruciating pain for

at least 2 hours before they die - they become highly agitated, they scream,

and some even bite off or swallow their own tongues.

 

The baiting program in Cooma will drop baits from a plane over private land

, this means no one will know the precise location of the baits.

There is no assurance that other animals, such as domestic dogs and

wildlife, will no

t be affected. The Cooma Rural Lands Protection Board has admitted that

Quolls (an endangered carnivorous marsupial) that live in the area are at

risk of being poisoned.

 

Further danger is possible as birds such as crows move baits. If baits are

moved to populated areas then this increases the risk of children and

domestic animals coming in contact with this deadly poison.

 

1080 baiting will not solve the problem of wild dogs in Cooma.

It is expected that within a year of the baiting the number of wild dogs

will return to

present levels. A humane and comprehensive program is needed that looks at

why wild dogs are there in the first place.

 

The presence of wild dogs can be attributed to people who dump and/or

neglect their dogs, and to pig shooters. Pig shooters take teams of dogs

into the bush and it is common for dogs to be lost. A real solution would

be to ban pig shooting with dogs, conduct a campaign on responsible dog

ownership,

and erect electrical fencing around paddocks to protect farm animals.

 

Help ban the use of 1080

 

Please contact the NSW Agriculture Ministers and urge him to ban the use of

all 1080 baits because they are cruel to animals and pose a threat to wild

life. Also ask him to immediately stop aerial baiting because it is

particularly dangerous and for this reason it is already banned in some

states.

 

The Hon Richard Amery M.P

NSW Minister for Agriculture

Email: ministers.office

Phone: (02) 9372 0123

Fax: (02) 9372 0199

PO Box 57

Mount Druitt NSW 2770