Dog owners have been warned not to take their pet near Lake Parramatta Reserve after poisonous 1080 Foxoff baits were buried across the area.
Until Saturday, November 19, dogs, as well as cats, have been banned from walking around Lake Parramatta Reserve following the commencement of the Sydney North Region Fox Control Program.
The program is coordinated by the NSW Government Local Land Services, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and several Councils, including the City of Parramatta.
“The program aims to ensure the long-term protection and recovery of native animals in the region including wallabies, lyrebirds, and turtles, by depleting fox numbers over a wide area from 10-28 October,” a City of Parramatta spokesperson said.
Although the fox baiting program will look to protect native wildlife from fox predation, it can often have a lethal impact on dogs if mistaken for food and ingested.
Prospect’s Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) Critical Care Doctor, Mara Hickey, said it can be traumatic to see a dog suffer from 1080 fox poison.
“Dogs, when they get into 1080, oftentimes are vocalising, that alone can be quite distressing,” she said.
“They often have what we call neuroexcitation, where they’re not just howling but they’re running around and then develop seizure activity – that can be very traumatic for their family members to see.”
If a dog owner suspects their pet may have consumed fox bait, Dr Hickey said they need to take urgent action in order for their dog to survive.
“If this is a true medical emergency and they think their dog may have gotten into [fox bait], they need to go to the closest veterinary hospital immediately, because we tend to see symptoms develop in about 30 minutes of them eating the bait,” she said.
“If the patients are already showing pretty significant symptoms by the time they arrive they have a very guarded prognosis.”
A guarded prognosis means that they are in an extremely serious condition with an outcome that is uncertain.
Although Dr Hickey said the veterinary hospital has been lucky enough not to see any dogs suffering from fox bait come in, she has urged dog owners to be careful take the warning signs seriously.
Warning signs have already been placed around Lake Parramatta Reserve advising dog owners that 1080 fox bait has recently been planted in the area.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.