Advocates call for changes to dingo pet rules

THE owner of Chewton wildlife conservation centre, Jirrahlinga, is part of a group pushing for stricter laws at the Federal level surrounding dingoes as pets. 

Tehree Gordon said Jirrahlinga currently looks after 128 dingoes.  

She said the group would like the Federal Government to make it illegal for “backyard breeders” to breed dingos in all states and for a permit to be required in New South Wales and Western Australia, which currently have no such rules. 

In Victoria, the crossbreeding of dingoes and domestic dogs is prohibited, and a special licence must be obtained from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action for those who wish to keep them. 

A permit is also required in the Northern Territory, while in Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia, keeping dingoes as pets is illegal. 

Ms Gordon said there is a big problem in Victoria with dingo-crosses being sold as domestic dogs in the state, particularly as kelpie-crosses which look similar to dingo puppies. 

“In NSW they’re just listed as domestic dogs, but when they cross into Victoria, they come under DEECA,” she said. 

“People then suddenly find that they have very strict requirements to own a dingo.  

“So, some of them go undercover because it’s just too hard and too expensive by the time they follow all the requirements and pay the licence. It’s going to be a big battle. 

“We’re going to find a lot of the backyard breeders are going to be against us making those sorts of moves, but we’re determined to see that the dingo is recognised more in its own right.” 

Ms Parker said another issue with unsuspectingly having a dingo-cross is they cannot take as much anaesthetic as dogs and may die if given the same dose. 

Ex-vet nurse and dingo researcher and advocate of 40 years, Jen Parker, said she unexpectedly became a dingo “guardian” after a dingo pup was found barely alive next to its dying mother and dead siblings.  

Ms Parker said the pup underwent months of rehabilitation and would not have been targeted by other dingoes in the wild had it been released. 

She said the group is planning to take the issue to Parliament House in Canberra sometime this year which she said they hope will lead to changes. 

“Dingoes are exotic animals, they’re wildlife, and they can’t be treated like a dog,” said Ms Parker. 

“People get these pups thinking they’re kelpie crosses and they come home and find that their lovely kelpie-crosses destroyed their homes. 

“They jump, they dig, they escape. They’re a totally different animal, and then we’re stuck trying to rehome them. They’re like a cat, everything’s on the dingo’s terms.” 

Dingoes are a separate species from domestic dogs, Canis lupus dingo rather than Canis lupis familiaris.