Telegraph report
Australian animal lovers condemn cat and wild boar cull
Sydney 19/12/2003
Australian animal lovers are outraged at an Outback town's plan to hold a Christmas "pig and pussy hunt", in which wild boar and feral cats will be trapped, shot, knifed, dynamited or run over.
Up to 100 hunters from all over Australia are converging on the gold mining town of Pine Creek, in the Northern Territory, to take part in the hunt, which starts at dawn on Boxing Day.
Organisers say the aim is to wipe out as many wild pigs and cats as possible. Both species are blamed for killing millions of Australian native animals a year, including endangered mammals, lizards, snakes and birds.
"We don't care how they kill them as long as we get rid of them," said organiser Rod Haines, a hunter who runs Pine Creek's Lazy Lizard caravan park.
"You can shoot them from a helicopter, run them over on the road, get them with a bow and arrow or chuck a stick of dynamite at them."
He said the last option was not recommended, after hunters strapped a stick of dynamite to a wild pig a few years ago and lit the fuse. The creature promptly bolted under their car and blew itself, and the vehicle, to pieces.
There are an estimated 2.5 million pigs in the Northern Territory, with the larger males renowned for their ferocity and razor-sharp tusks.
Most hunters will go after them at night with packs of "pig dogs", normally bull mastiffs or pit bull terriers equipped with rubber body armour.
"Anything that steps off the veranda is fair game," Mr Haines said. "You can knock off a neighbour's cat if it's not been locked up at night, as it should be. I'm not a cruel man but these animals are wiping out our native wildlife. We are just giving Mother Nature a helping hand."
Full report
ABC News Online
Shooters gather for Pig and Pussy hunt.
The organiser of an annual feral animal hunt in the Northern Territory says it is attracting interest nationwide.
Rod Haines from Pine Creek, 200 kilometres south of Darwin, says this year's Pig and Pussy hunt has a $700 prize for the biggest boar.
He says the hunt starts on Boxing Day with the weigh-in on New Year's Day.
Mr Haines says the event is becoming very popular. "We've created a lot of interest from the east coast mainly," he said. "There's a lot of north Queensland hunters coming over this year. A few people left from Melbourne two days ago to head up for it that were up here for the August hunt. I hear there's a few coming from WA. So we're pretty well getting it Australia-wide now."
(BTW, interesting how two news organs report the same story with a very different spin.)