Stop the Bounty

On the 24th of September two dingoes were shot on the side of the road in Murchison. They were together, a pair. Dingoes mate for life. The first would have been shot as it considered, with the extraordinary intelligence that dingoes are well know for, what the car had stopped for. The second would have died in a state of anxious confusion, disorientated by the sound of the rifle fire, terrified by the smell and strange behaviour of its lifelong companion,  jerking and thrashing in a pool of its own blood. It would have wanted to run. But it stayed, terrified, with its mate. A second shot, and they lay dying together.

So far it’s not a particularly noteworthy situation. Dingoes are shot all the time all around Australia. This fact is hidden from the general public, by calling them wild dogs. Murchison shire has a bounty on wild dogs. I assume the shooter would have been pleased to get them both, as by presenting their scalps to the shire office they would have been paid $200.

But these were no ordinary dingoes. These dingoes were Steve, and Eulalia. They were captive-raised at the Australian Dingo Foundation in Victoria, for the express purpose of re-educating the Australian public. A nation of people who have been lied to.

We have been lied to in so many ways about the dingo. Most especially, that they don’t even exist. Instead, that they have been replaced by “wild dogs”. Yet readily available DNA evidence shows that nothing could be further from the truth. From a scientific standpoint, it’s not even debatable.

Wooleen is a community. Thousands of people come here every year to learn about how we fix our land from the mistakes of the past. They all learn that the dingo is the key. Steve and Eulalia have blessed many of them with a grateful kiss.

Cultural change needs education, and movement. Steve and Eulalia were education. Now we need movement.