I heard a chap on the radio today describing how his dog came back to their caravan (which was in the Sandstone area in a bush camp) and he was carrying the leg of a kangaroo. 

The chap took the leg off him and almost immediately the dog started to have convulsions and frothing at the mouth and yelping in agony.  The man's wife could not take watching it going through death throes and ran into the caravan, while the man got his rifle and put the dog out of it's misery.  After burying his dog, he scouted around and found the carcass of a kangaroo that had been obviously dosed with poison as a bait, and laying near the kangaroo were the bodies of a wedge tail eagle and crows that had obviously fed on the body of the kangaroo and died also.

The radio announcer went on to say he had contacted a government department who said the area in question was private property and the poisoning was not done by the department, however, poisoned baits are dropped by plane in National and State National parks to control the dingo and fox populations.  Also that many property owners or leaseholders do their own baiting in their own areas.  

Anyone coming to WA who pull up at rest areas or free/bush camps should be very aware that their pets may pick up one of these baits which can also be picked up and dropped by birds in areas close to the road.  The only way to protect your pet is to make sure they are muzzled when outside your RV at roadside stops/camps and only remove it to feed them or to allow them to drink, then only when supervised and put the muzzle back on them until you move on.  

I watched a fox terrier of mine die from baiting and it is something I have never forgotten it is a rotten death.  I believe some baiters are also using eggs impregnated with poison as well for dingo's and fox's with no concern about the other wildlife or pets that may eat them. No areas in WA are safe from these mongrels and that includes the suburbs.

Vic   

absolutely vic, 1080 is the weapon of choice, if it is done by rangers it is usually smallish meat cubes either dropped by plane or buried, where it is laid, privat or government, it is mandatory to have "poison" signs all over the joint so just keep an eye out either way it is not pleasant to watch, good advice R.E. the chomper cover, havent seen it kill a dog but I've watched a few foxes go through the death throes

Dave it was also reported on the radio that a child had picked up an "egg bait" which apparently still being used for 1080. Luckily the egg hadn't broken and the parent retrieved the egg from them and took it for testing. A nearby property was apparently using it legally behind a fenced area but an egg had got outside the property (dropped by a bird?).

I found this Ag dept 1997 report on egg baiting saying that it wouldn't affect wildlife (i've never seen a bird, snake or lizard that doesn't love eggs yet!) which I find a bit amazing, they were using 1080 in the eggs, see this Ag Dept link;

http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/news/archives-calm/eggs-calma%80%99s-latest-baiting-weapon-for-the-south-west.html

-- Edited by Vic41 on Thursday 6th of August 2009 06:28:37 PM

hmm!! new one on me, I didnt know about the egg one, have to watch that as well, they would be chicken eggs I guess, so if I come across a chook egg "out there" then I know to keep my pooches away from it

G'Day Dave, it says the eggs are stamped with poison bait or something on the link so that should help the humans, don't know too many people that have dogs that can read though, lol. I just "reset" the link, i've noticed the links don't activate sometimes on posting and you have to edit the post and move the cursor along a space behid the link to get it to change colour. Vic

i once had a roo dog that got a bait, i forced his mouth open and poured salty water down it, then spun him by the tail to make him spew, he survived and he was really throffing. i thought it was an old tale but it worked. maybe i was lucky.

must remember that if the dragon ever swallows one

We've been travelling for 6 months now with our 3 dogs and are continuosly amazed at the number of people who let their dogs run around off the lead'. We feel sad and sorry for the dogs who get hurt or even die, but I'm afraid I have no sympathy - its the owner at fault, as is usually the case, and if you let your dog roam, then you've probably got yourself to blame. We know from experience that they will grub around and you;ve got to watch them like a hawke, even when they are on a lead, when you are in bait country. Paul

Welcome Paul

A friend of mine who looks after her dog as if it was a child, nearly lost her dog to some form of poison. She let him go for a toilet break in the bush, watch as best she could, noticed something was up, and found the dog had sniffed/licked a dead carcus.

For the next week she had him at the vet, was on 24hr watch, and all looked bad for the little fellow. He pulled through and shows no sign of problem now.

This happened in central NSW!!!. So watch them at all times, poison bait signs or not.

Hi Paul Not long ago localy people lost a dog which had eaten some sort of sea sponge washed up on a beach which killed there dog. So ime very carefull when with my dog on beaches.