Investigating the health and welfare of pig-hunting dogs in Queensland, Australia

Hunting feral pigs with dogs is a popular recreational activity in Queensland, with an estimated 156,000 dogs used for feral pig-hunting across Australia. Pig-hunting dogs tend to be large, mixed-breed dogs that have been bred to either bail or lug (bite and hold) feral pigs during hunts. While pig-hunting dogs likely get some degree of enjoyment out hunting, the method of hunting feral pigs in Queensland that allows dogs to bite onto feral pigs can result in catastrophic injuries for dogs. In addition to these traumatic injuries, pig-hunting dogs face an increased risk of zoonotic infectious diseases from feral pigs and the environment. We studied a group of clinically healthy pig-hunting dogs from above the Tropic of Capricorn in Queensland and compared them to other populations of dogs across Australia. We found pig-hunting dogs in Queensland were at an increased risk of contracting heartworm disease, as well as the zoonotic diseases leptospirosis, coxiellosis (Q Fever) and brucellosis. In addition, we identified numerous risks to the welfare of pig-hunting dogs ranging from poor housing and transportation methods through to overbreeding and wastage. We concluded that the current approach to pig hunting with dogs presents significant health and welfare risks to the dogs, and steps should be taken to mitigate these risks. We also determined that pig-hunting dogs can act as sentinel animals for monitoring zoonotic diseases in the environment, and consideration should be given to making diseases like leptospirosis a notifiable disease in dogs.