Following reports of "fur babies" being shot while assaulting animals, dog owners want changes to the legislation.

After stating that their “fur-kids” were discovered shot dead on a neighbouring farm with chicken feathers in their jaws, a West Australian couple is demanding for state regulations permitting dogs to be killed if they attack livestock to be amended.

Major points:

According to a Broome couple, their dogs were shot on an adjacent farm while chasing hens.
They want regulations permitting owners of rural land to kill dogs attacking animals modified.
Property owners have the right to shoot dogs in this circumstance, according to the WA Farmers’ Federation.

In situations where the assault cannot be halted and authorities are alerted, the state’s Dog Act permits rural property owners to kill a dog that is attacking cattle.

Matthew Anderson and Deborah Wilson, a couple from Broome, claimed their dogs were shot on a neighbouring farm after they ran away from their house last month and never came back.

The morning of August 19, according to Ms. Wilson, their freshly fostered kelpie, Nell, and 20-month-old Jack Russell, Harley, disappeared from their remote property.

We realised they weren’t returning home after waiting for them for five hours that morning, she claimed.

After that, according to Mr. Anderson, Nell’s previous owner phoned him and informed him that the ranger had called to say he had discovered the dogs shot to death on a neighbouring piece of land.

The ranger verified the dogs were theirs and said he had taken pictures to document the situation after the couple claimed they had phoned him.

Mr. Anderson stated, “He [the ranger] told me straight out that you don’t want to see those [the images].”

Because they felt that viewing the dogs’ bodies after the claimed occurrence would have been “too distressing,” they decided to have both canines interred by the Broome Shire.

It was simply too distressing for Mr. Anderson to face the prospect of taking them home for a home burial after picking them up from the veterinarian, he said.

If you can picture having a child and not being able to say goodbye, that’s how we feel about our animals, Ms. Wilson said. “Fur-babies to us are our kids.”

According to Mr. Anderson, the ranger informed him that the canines were discovered on the farm they were discovered at with feathers in their teeth and that they had reportedly attacked hens there.

He stated, “Unfortunately, to us, the life of a beloved family pet over a $20 chicken just doesn’t weigh right on the scales.

Police informed of the event, according to the ABC, but sent it to the Broome Shire Rangers.

The Broome Shire chose not to respond.

shooting during attacks is “lawful”

According to WA’s Dog Act (1976), the owner of the livestock has the right to “lawfully kill or otherwise destroy” the dog if it is assaulting any cattle.

If there is no other way to stop the attack and notice is given to a police officer as soon as is practicable after, the act states that a person who owns or is currently lawfully in charge of any animal or bird may lawfully shoot or otherwise destroy a dog that he finds attacking that animal or bird.

Principal attorney at Lawyers for Companion Animals Anne Greenaway emphasised the significance of the zoning of the area where any occurrences took place since it may indicate whether or not the animals involved were classified livestock.

It won’t really be classified as livestock if you have a pet chicken in a city, according to the woman, because the location is presumably designated residential.

“I suppose it would be easy to claim… that basically the animals are livestock, they could say everything here is livestock” when one lives in a rural region.

The legislation should be altered to distinguish between pets and wild animals, according to Mr. Anderson and Ms. Wilson, who claimed to understand the law and make no criminal accusations.

“We concur that they should safeguard their cattle and other property features, but not [kill] family pets. A line in black and white must be drawn, according to Ms. Wilson.

Farmers’ Federation supports gun violence

John Hassell, the president of the WA Farmers Federation, stated that it was the duty of the dog owners to keep their pets under control.

“People have a right to defend their cattle, and they have every right to exterminate the animal that is harming or killing the livestock on their property,” he stated.

Shoot, shovel, and remain silent as they ponder the whereabouts of their pets.”