General News
7 August, 2026
Farmer sends $40K invoice to Spring Street for dog attacks
After weeks of repeated attacks on his self-replacing Merino flock, fourth-generation Rainbow farmer Scott Keller sent an invoice to the Victorian Government out of frustration.
The invoice, totalling nearly $40,000, covers the loss of 16 sheep, 145 lambs, and 21 nights of patrols.
Mr Keller acknowledged he does not expect payment and that it would not compensate for the loss of breeding work.
“How can you put a monetary value on stock?” Mr Keller asked.
“It's not a terminal lamb, like a crossbred – they're self-replacing Merinos, so it's five years' worth of genetics.
“And is it really five years when you're breeding from it?
“We've been self-replacing Merinos for 45 years. It's been my father's passion for a long time.”
Mr Keller said he noticed something was up some weeks ago when marking lambs.
“We found a few lambs that had flies, which normally don't get flies this time of year,” he said.
“(We) had a bit of a look, and they had bite marks.
“We found 12 lambs that had been bitten and scabbed up a bit – that was a bit odd for a start – normally when you have dog attacks, they don't heal up, usually.
“We started taking a bit more notice, and then not long after that, checking two lots of sheep and (we saw) probably three lambs killed a day and up to three wounded – mauled in the back legs, that sort of thing.
“At times we were seeing ewes that were attacked as well.”
Asked about witnessing what kind of dogs they were, Mr Keller said he has seen them from a distance, the emotional impact mixed with a degree of confusion.
“We pulled into the paddock and (saw) two at a time, running out of the flock.
“It was a bit distressing. You're feeling a bit helpless.
“But that's the million-dollar question, really. (They) don't look anything like we've ever seen before, as far as I'm concerned. The wild dogs that we've seen before, and you see out the scrub when you're driving around out there – the old man’s been farming out here for 50 odd years, he reckons he's probably seen two wild dogs in his whole time.”
He explained that attacks are usually isolated incidents that can be managed, but recently they have occurred nightly for over two weeks.
Thankfully, by virtue of trail bikes and 4WDs coming through the area around the June long weekend, seemingly pushing them away, plus moving the sheep to 100 metres from the farmhouse, the attacks have abated, but he was still at a loss as to what to do to protect his sheep long term.
Mr Keller said that, given the way his property was laid out, exclusion fencing was “not really viable,” and he was doubtful that sentry animals would help, given the way the dogs appeared to be roaming.
“I've had one of my mates say to me that we probably should look at alpacas,” he said.
“Well, Friday he’s seen a wild dog as he was spraying his crops, and he looked at it and said one alpaca might be able to do something, but he said if they're coming in twos with a dog that size – no hope in hell.”
Since March 2024, lethal control of wild dogs and dingoes has been banned across north-west Victoria to protect the dingo population.
Mr Keller said predation was minimal before the ban, as government trappers managed problem animals.
Now, dogs are travelling up to eight kilometres from the scrub to feed.
The Liberal-Nationals have promised to restore the unprotection order if they win the November election and shadow agriculture minister Emma Kealy said farmers were “at breaking point”.
“We had a policy that worked, and it didn’t make sense at all to remove those protections for stock and farmers,” she said.
“Now there are no controls in place, and they are running rampant and killing stock in the most cruel way possible. It’s sheer neglect and lack of understanding of what happens on farms in regional Victoria.”
A government spokesperson said compensation was not offered for livestock predation.
Still, DEECA, including Agriculture Victoria and the Vertebrate Species Management Program, remained “committed to working with farmers impacted by predation in the north west of Victoria”.
Mr Keller said he would rather get on with farm work, but has found himself an accidental advocate.
“I wouldn’t have thought I would have been the right person for the job,” he said.
“But apparently the job’s found me.”
Read More: Rainbow