The long anticipated rebuild of the dog fence in South Australia will begin next week, just over a year since the plan was revealed.
The $25 million project will replace and fortify 1,600 kilometres of the current fence line in South Australia.
Sections of the fence are more than 100 years old and have been damaged by native and feral animals, weather events and sand erosion.
The chair of the South Australian Dog Fence Board, Geoff Power, said he was eager for the rebuild to start.
"It's been a great barrier keeping [wild] dogs from travelling south, but it's an aging fence," he said.
"We'll do 11 kilometres for a start, and then we'll progress and get the rest of the fence done over the next few years."
Weak points cause pastoralists grief
Mr Power said there were several degraded sections where wild dogs could get through.
"The North-East Pastoral area is a real hotspot, the Marree area and the Roxby Downs area," he said.
"The fence varies in structure and age, so it's not a straight line as far as renewing the fence is concerned.
"Sections of the fence are in good order and sections of the fence need to be replaced."
Mr Power said as more dogs slipped through, it was taking an increasing toll on pastoralists to the south.
"It's put a lot of strain not only on their production, but also their mental health.
"It's not a very nice feeling knowing that every night when you go to bed, you're going to find sheep predated the next day," he said.
"This has been going on for a long time, and the situation hasn't got better."
The next challenge
Once construction of the fence was finished, the challenge of removing the dogs from the south would begin.
"Once we get the fence up, we've got a really big job of getting the dogs out from inside the fence," Mr Power said.
"That will involve the trapping program, aerial and ground baiting, and of course there's opportunistic shooting as well.
"The sheep industry's got a lot of value in it, it's got a great future, and we want to ensure that future is protected."
