VICTORY - The Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef-The Honourable Dr.Steven Miles- on Thursday, August 18, 2016 stated -has stopped a controversial plan to deploy wild dogs to kill goats on a North Queensland island to protect the threatened Beach stone-curlew. Dr Miles today made an Interim Conservation Order under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 requiring Hinchinbrook Shire Council to immediately cease the use of dingoes to eradicate feral goats on Pelorus Island. “I was shocked to learn of this cruel experiment but even more alarming is the lack of thought for the native animals on the island. “Pest control should always be carried out in the most humane way possible – not by death row dingoes. “As of today no dogs can be released on to Pelorus Island and any wild dogs already on the island must be removed within the next 14 days,” Dr Miles said.-Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Leanne Donaldson said the program was ‘inhumane’. “I fully support the action Minister Miles is taking today,” Ms Donaldson said. “It was very frustrating for me to learn that under current legislation I had no power to intervene. “As soon as I heard the detail of the council’s plan I sought urgent advice on whether I could step in on the grounds that it is a cruel and inhumane solution.-“There has to be a more humane way to deal with a feral pest problem.”