Charges laid during long weekend crackdown on illegal pig hunting

The interagency operation was based at Tottenham but saw police and local council rangers patrol Dubbo, Nyngan, Lachlan and Parkes local government areas between Saturday and Monday.

Inspector David Cooper from Lachlan Local Area Command said one driver received five infringements after he was stopped on Saturday night near Nyngan.

A scan of all of the dogs in the vehicle showed none had microchips. 

The driver was also issued infringements for a range of offences including hunting on the side of the road, unsecured and unregistered dogs.

Inspector Cooper said the 10-strong team covered about 250 kilometres in the first night of the operation and patrols also found many people operating within the law, including a group of hunters located in the Wharfdale State Forest whose details and those of their dogs were checked.

Hotspots along the Bogan River were the focus of Sunday’s efforts, Inspector Cooper said, which included the area around Bobodah Hall, Hermidale and the Pangee Forest.

“Two sets of hunters were located in this area and their bona-fides checked,” he said.

“One hunter was using firearms and his licence and firearms were checked. The other was hunting with dogs and his dogs were scanned. These hunters appeared to be hunting lawfully.”

Inspector Cooper said the operation enabled police to garner a lot of intelligence from the local area.

A significant amount of this was provided by local landholders, he said.

“This will be an ongoing activity that we plan to do regularly,” Inspector Cooper said.

“We will target this area again. Members of the public should call police if they have questions about what constitutes unlawful hunting.

“It’s also important for anyone who sees or hears anything untoward on properties that they think is suspicious to contact police.”