THROUGHOUT the fox bounty season Al Brown finds himself digging holes to bury scalped foxes.
That’s when he’s not burning the carcasses that routinely turn up on his property during the season.
Al and his wife Nerida, cattle farmers on a 600 acre property in Harston, a small town near Tatura, are forced to patrol and monitor irrigation channels and boundary fence lines, and monitor crop paddocks, to make sure the scalped and gutted carcasses don’t represent a biosecurity threat to the couples’ beef enterprise, their own health and wellbeing, and that of their pets.
The problem has been ongoing for the last decade, but has escalated in recent years with the Browns having to contend with the disposal of dumped carcasses on a regular basis.
“Initially the foxes were clamped so tightly to the top wire of the boundary fence, that we either had to use a chainsaw to remove the legs to remove the body or the fence wire had to be cut and restrained,” Nerida said.
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“Then it was scalped foxes dumped near our entrance gate and along the fence lines and in the irrigation channels.
“Now, the foxes are scalped and gutted, and dumped in increasing numbers.
“It begins to get you down.
“We should not have to cope with this.”
Nerida estimates that Al deals on average with around 20 dead foxes during bounty season which runs from March through to October, with random carcasses also strewn on the property outside of the collection dates.
Although the Browns themselves do not shoot foxes they understand the importance of the scheme, with Victoria the only state to have its own fox bounty program.
In the 2023 season, Agriculture Victoria received 82,799 fox scalps from 1452 applicants, with the program a vital part of pest management strategy with foxes widespread and established.
The Browns are not suggesting that the policy itself is flawed.
Their primary concern is the dumping of carcasses, which represent a by-product of the program, and they want Agriculture Victoria to address the issue.
“Especially when biosecurity is at the forefront of most farmers’ minds,” Nerida said.
Nerida and Al have repeatedly sought help from a variety of government agencies, first approaching Agriculture Victoria (AgVic), before being referred on to the Environmental Protection Authority; the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action; and then directed to local council, the RSPCA and even the Game Management Authority, despite many of these agencies having little to no jurisdiction in the field.
“It’s been dragging on since early May, and it just feels that every agency I speak to passes the buck,” Nerida said.
“Apparently there is either no policy or jurisdiction covering this significant biosecurity concern, and we’re thoroughly sick of it.
“It shouldn’t be up to as as the landowner to enforce the safe disposal of carcasses that have been dumped on our property as the result of a policy short sight.
“Who takes responsibility?"
Harston's local council is the City of Greater Shepparton and the couple’s farm falls under the electoral district of Euroa.
Al has lived there his whole life.
Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland finds the situation to be cause for significant concern.
“My office and I deal with hundreds of constituent concerns each week, but this one, in particular, was very alarming,” Ms Cleeland said.
“This situation can create serious biosecurity concerns, with water sources and livestock being in close proximity to the scalped carcasses.
“We’ve seen an uptick in biosecurity incidents across the region recently, with farm trespassing, veterinarian shortages, and emergency animal diseases all being prevalent in recent years.
“It remains so important to me – and the entire Nationals party – to ensure situations like this are avoided.
“Sadly, Ms Brown has struggled to get a straight answer from several government agencies and departments, so we are trying to assist her with this situation.”
Ms Cleeland confirmed that she had raised Ms Brown’s concerns with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and was hoping to see some progress in the near future.
However, when the EPA was contacted by North East Media in regards to policing the dumping of carcasses, they confirmed that it was an AgVic initiative and that AgVic was responsible for delivering the program.
This is despite the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) being listed as the agency responsible for enforcing the terms and conditions of the bounty and investigating offences under the Environment Protection Act, with reports of illegal rubbish dumping - which includes animal carcasses - to be made to the authority.
“Everyone has a duty to protect the environment and we expect those involved in the fox bounty program to fulfill their obligation to ensure the proper disposal of fox carcasses harvested for the program,” the EPA spokesperson said.
Agriculture Victoria said that the fox bounty program plays an important role helping farmers to protect their livestock from major predators and there is the expectation that everyone participating in the program acts responsibly when disposing of carcasses.
Every bounty applicant is verbally asked whether they have complied with the terms and conditions and they must also sign a declaration, which pertains amongst other things to the responsible disposal of carcasses.
“Hunters should determine how fox (and wild dog) carcasses will be disposed of prior to their collection – whether that is the farm or collection site on which it was taken, as long as the burial site does not adversely impact cultural heritage, land, surface waters, groundwaters and air quality in regards to odour,” the Agriculture Victoria spokesperson said.
Agriculture Victoria did confirm that the number of carcasses submitted for the bounty compared to complaints received was relatively low.
However complaints still exist, and the question remains as to what governing body addresses these complaints.
“The dumping of fox carcasses affects the integrity of the Victorian fox bounty program and reflects poorly on hunters – further, it is a breach of the bounty terms and conditions,” the spokesperson said.
The dumped carcasses on the Harston property are in breach, yet the Browns are no closer to any resolution.
"It's great to have all these terms and conditions, but they become virtually redundant when there are no agencies enforcing them," Nerida said.
"If this happened in a residential zone there would be an uproar."
