austen Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Just had a "discussion" with my sister over lunch re her dogs. We always walk our dogs on leash around our neighbourhood but they have been attacked a few times by other off leash dogs and I am sick and tired of being scared to walk certain areas because I am a bit scared that they are going to be attacked by off leash dogs. My sister was making the comment that they let their dog off at the local park quite often where it will go hunting and on occasions kill rabbits or possums etc. I took issue to this comment and stated that it really annoyed me that people walk dogs off leash and that secondly, I didn't really think it was the right thing to do that her dog should just go off and kill wildlife, even if it is just rabbits. Can anyone tell me if it is actually against the law to allow your dog to kill rabbits and possums at the local park? Was just interested to find out what is the situation in regards to this in case it ever comes up in conversation again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 A lot of dogs go rabbit hunting at our local off leash. They have a baiting program which makes it quite unsafe imo. I don't think it is illegal though. TBH I let my dog chase rabbits when i'm on a rural property, she rarely gets them though and if she does, it is because they are already sick. She doens't ever eat them, just brings them to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Is the park a designated offlead area? It's ilegal to let your dog course/kill live animals where I live. That said, if dogs are exercising in designated offlead areas and there are rabbits, its damn hard to stop them doing what they've been hard wired to do for centuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 If the rabbits are vermin, then it's legal to hunt and kill vermin. The possums are native - illegal to kill them or let your dog do so. If it's in the city, it's probably unacceptable either way and there's not much difference to a dog between a rabbit, cat or small white fluffy. So probably best not to encourage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 If the rabbits are vermin, then it's legal to hunt and kill vermin. The possums are native - illegal to kill them or let your dog do so. If it's in the city, it's probably unacceptable either way and there's not much difference to a dog between a rabbit, cat or small white fluffy. So probably best not to encourage. Not in this Territory if you want to hunt them and kill them using dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austen Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 No - this is a large park, which is not off leash and is located in a suburban area in Sydney. There are two parts to this that annoy me. First is, they shouldn't be letting their dog off leash ( you have no idea whether a strange dog is friendly or unfriendly) and secondly , I know rabbits, possums are regarded as a massive nuisance, but I still don't know that you should be giving your dog free rein to kill them in a local park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Legalities depend on your state/territory. In NSW rabbits are declared noxious and not protected so hunting them is legal, so long as it is humane (which it isn't always when dogs are concerned) and complies with other laws like public control of dogs, private land access, firearms laws etc. Possums of any description are protected nation wide and cannot be legally hunted or killed without licence. In NZ possums are noxious and hunted just as freely as the rabbit in NSW. And like PF say, it's illegal to allow a dog to chase or hunt any animal, native or otherwise, in the ACT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui835 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Legalities depend on your state/territory. In NSW rabbits are declared noxious and not protected so hunting them is legal, so long as it is humane (which it isn't always when dogs are concerned) and complies with other laws like public control of dogs, private land access, firearms laws etc. Possums of any description are protected nation wide and cannot be legally hunted or killed without licence. In NZ possums are noxious and hunted just as freely as the rabbit in NSW. And like PF say, it's illegal to allow a dog to chase or hunt any animal, native or otherwise, in the ACT. This seems very difficult though. The other day at my training class, a possum with a death wish decided to run across the entire field, past about 5 different dog classes (with about 10 people per class). You can imagine the chaos that ensued, and the possum didn't live to tell the tale. The biggest issue was trying to prevent fights over the damn thing once it was caught. The dogs were on lead, but pulled suddenly and many got away (even from the class that was at trial level) - I think some breeds and then some dogs in particular just want to hunt more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Accidental deaths are not illegal - it's intentional killing of wildlife that is. So running one over with your car is not unlawful, or if you're at an offleash park and a dog grabs one, or if your dog grabs one in the backyard. All of which is of course different to setting dogs on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juice Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 My dog knows the difference between a rabbit and a small fluffy dog ,rusty bucket :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janba Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 My dally will also kill possums, rabbbits and birds if she gets the chance but is really good with other dogs, SWF and puppies included. I don't let her hunt if I can help it but there is nothing I can do about the possums in the yard etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui835 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 My dog knows the difference between a rabbit and a small fluffy dog ,rusty bucket :D I don't know how but somehow my dog does too. I think it might have something to do with the fact that he was raised with 2 papillons and 2 cats... (he will chase cats if they run, but not attack, whereas possums and rabbits will be chased and caught, and um plucked but not killed...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 My dog knows the difference between a rabbit and a small fluffy dog ,rusty bucket :D So does my Whippet. Perhaps because he wasn't socialised with rabbits but has been with small dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 So do mine. Even in a pack the ears will all prick up at the sight of small fluffy anything. Once they get a little closer you can see them recognise it as a dog. Ears go down, interest immediately fades - "How boring, just a little fluffy dog". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I think here Rabbits are not protected at all, we only have teeny possums that you rarely see and they look like very cute slightly large mice with very curly tails. I didn't know it was illegal to hunt them in the ACT. Is there much rural land in the ACT? I don't think many would find it very nice to see, and if the park is not off lead - well they shouldn't be. As for the killing of possums - very not cool. Find out what general time they go and ring the Ranger and as them to go down and check it out around the time they are there. I personally have no problem with dogs hunting rabbits. We ahve heaps, they wreck my fences and stock get injured. We bait them and shoot them and if we didn't have so many snakes we would hunt them a whole lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 there's not much difference to a dog between a rabbit, cat or small white fluffy. there is a world of difference ! Especially to dogs, whose sense of smell and perception of body language is much better than ours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jebee Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 I believe dog owner should obey laws and do not let dog off leash unless it is allowed. What I do not understand is that rule that ON LEASH dogs are not allowed in national parks. I do not have dog yet (very seriously considering getting one), but my favourite pass time is bushwalking and it is killing me that I would never be able to walk my favourite tracks with my future dog. I would understand prohibiting dogs in some very special remote places, where dog barking might disturb native fauna, but many parts of national parks are very close to suburbs and surely people and particularly children are much noisier than dogs (well, my kids certainly are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemymutts Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 if it was at a desgnated dog park & the dog killed a possum (not with any humans commanding it to) then that would be accidental, but not sure of the legalities at a park that is not for dogs, because as others have said possums are protected in Australia. Might be worth a call to your local Environment Department which in SA is now DENR- Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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