Shadow Minister for Regional and Rural Development and Leader of The Nationals Peter Ryan, and Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh today announced $4 million over four years to establish a Fox and Wild Dog Bounty if elected to government.

Mr Ryan said Victorian fox and wild dog numbers had exploded in recent years and were a serious threat to farming communities and the natural environment.

“Foxes and wild dogs are exposing farmers to severe stock losses, resulting in hefty costs to farm businesses and Victoria’s economy,” Mr Ryan said.

“Under the Coalition’s program all licensed shooters, including rural landholders, will be eligible for a $10 bounty for every fox and a $50 bounty for every dog killed.

"Research shows foxes are estimated to cost Australia more than $228 million per year in combined environmental and agricultural impacts and control costs, with the direct impact on sheep production alone estimated at $17.5 million every year – in some areas they have been known to take up to 30 per cent of lambs.

"In reintroducing the bounty, we are aiming to replicate the success of the 2003 program when about 198,000 foxes were killed," Mr Ryan said.

Mr Walsh said the State Government’s token ‘Fox Stop’ program had proved to be an abject failure.

“Just 6,200 foxes were killed last year under the Fox Stop program last year, as opposed to 198,000 when the Fox Bounty was trialled in 2003," Mr Walsh said.