Project: Playing for Sheep Stations: Wild dog management and control in NSW

Wild dogs in NSW are feral animals. Wild dog policy has a history dating back to European colonisation of Australia. Currently, it is informed and supported by a complex raft of Federal and State legislation. The policy is highly controversial. It attempts to control what are in essence irreconcilable discourses in the public domain. It is the site of significant tensions involving multiple social actors across NSW.

My thesis explores a series of tensions inherent in current policy and praxis literature in which the current approach is described and celebrated as ‘best practice’. I compare and contrast this ‘best practice’ with a selection of a large, and mostly unpublished and completely unknown, collection of documents dating from 1868 which presents a whole different perspective and understanding. I present findings from a case study of participant observations of over 50 ‘grass roots’ wild dog meetings held over three years in the South East and North East of New South Wales, Australia. I then compare and contrast these findings with key wild dog management and control literature.

This research will be of significant interest to government, farmers and farming industry bodies, particularly AWI, NSW FA, Cattle Council of NSW and the MLA.