It’s dingo puppy love

Erin Pearson
THE REGION’S first breeding program for dingoes will begin at Barwon Heads after the birth of nine pups at Jirrahlinga wildlife sanctuary, according to its owner.
Tehree Gordon said the “little terrors” would lead the program after she recently took over a dingo farm at Castlemaine.
Jirrahlinga would have one of only a few purebred dingo breeding programs in Australia, she said.
Ms Gordon called the pups from three litters an “exciting” addition to the Jirrahlinga family.
But the five-week-olds were proving a challenge for staff.
“They’re little terrors,” Ms Gordon said.
“Normally people go ‘Ooh, ahh’ when you bring the koalas out but now we’re getting that when we bring the dingo pups out.
“They are very spoilt little dingoes.”
Jirrahlinga has put three of the pups on public display
Ms Gordon said the pups were an expensive addition, costing the not-for-profit sanctuary around $2000 a year each to raise.
She was seeking sponsors to help cover the cost of the “little balls of fur”.
Ms Gordon said dingoes often received a “bad rap” in the media for attacks on humans but she was determined to change the stigma.
“Hybrid” crosses between wild dogs and dingoes were the real problem, she said.
“Joe Blow doesn’t want his dog any more so he leaves it in the bush and they bred with purebred dingoes, producing a hybrid strain of dog.
“It’s these dogs that are the problem, not purebred dingoes.”
Ms Gordon said dingoes were only recently recognised as endangered.
“Dingoes only recently came off the vermin list in Victoria and have now been put on the threatened species list. It’s a new recognition for purebred dingoes and this is important because we only have a very limited numbers in Australia.”
Volunteer carer Samantha Hall said dingo pups were “completely different” to domestic dogs.
“The big difference is the mum supplies the milk and the dad goes out hunting then regurgitates the meat for the pups to eat, so by three weeks of age they’re eating solid food,” she said.