LOCAL landholders have been given a new tool by the Queensland government to fight the wild dog menace.
New guidelines have been released to allow property owners to use livestock destroyed on their property as bait meat for wild dogs.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister John McVeigh said the Protocol for the Production of 1080 meat baits would assist landholders, wild dog committees and local governments undertaking cost-effective baiting programs.
Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett said until recently animals used as bait had to be slaughtered at a standard suitable for human consumption and the meat processed to at least pet food standard.
"This increases costs unnecessarily for property owners," Mr Bennett said.
"Landholders are also able to use the skinned carcass of commercially harvested kangaroos as a source of bait meat," Mr Bennett said.
"Under the protocol all animals slaughtered for bait meat must be killed humanely."
Landholders will now be able to take meat from livestock and feral animals destroyed on their property to baiting stations to be injected with 1080 poison.
Bundaberg Regional Council's Operational Supervisor of Natural Resource Management, Nick Maclean, said land protection officers had a variety of baits available and provided advice to landholders on how to undertake a baiting program.
"Anyone wishing to undertake a 1080 baiting program has a responsibility to advise neighbours," Mr MacLean said.
"Fluoroacetate, the active ingredient in 1080, is a naturally occurring poison found in native plants so there is a high resistance in native fauna and is relatively safe."
Councillor Wayne Honor said the council's land protection team promotes wild dog control to landholders throughout the region.
"Co-ordinated baiting programs are advertised and encouraged in the lead up to spring, which is an active breeding time for dingoes and wild dogs," said Cr Honor.
