A Moss Vale vet has spoken out after a four-month-old puppy died from a suspected 1080 poisoning.
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Berrima District Veterinary Hospital veterinarian Dr Ken Davidson said a woman rushed the dog over to his practice after her pet "dropped dead" minutes after its dinner.
"They raced the puppy over and when they arrived he was dead," Dr Davidson said.
"I managed to get a blood sample from the pup after he died.
"It came back with massive levels of the enzymes [associated] with [1080], thousands more than it should've been."
Dr Davidson said the case was rare, however there was a similar incident in Moss Vale about 10 years ago.
The puppy's death comes as a groundswell of opposition mounts against the use of the bait.
Bowral resident Paul Samulski started a petition on Monday to call on Wingecarribee Shire Council to prohibit the use of 1080 across the Southern Highlands.
Mr Samulski said the petition was started in response to concerns about the safety of domestic animals.
"I support control of feral animals, just not the poisoning method," Mr Samulski said.
"Family dogs have been poisoned. It would be a shame for more dogs to suffer the same fate."
At the time of publication, the petition had more than 1000 signatures.
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A Wingecarribee Shire Council spokesman said council was not the body that controlled the use of 1080.
"This falls under the jurisdiction of the NSW State Government and, as such, council does not have the authority to ban the product," he said.
"Council does not currently use 1080 and has not used the product for many years."
South East Local Land Services senior biosecurity officer Matthew McNaughton said 1080 was "a highly regulated substance".
"To be issued a 1080 bait by Local Land Services, land managers have to complete an accreditation course, and undertake a risk assessment for their property to ensure that their baiting program complies with the Pesticide Control Order (PCO)," Mr McNaughton said.
"The risk assessment, which is done in conjunction with Local Land Services Biosecurity staff, takes into consideration proximity to houses, waterways and neighbouring properties in order to minimise the risk of a bait being taken by a domestic dog or any other non-target species."
Mr McNaughton said land managers were required to notify their neighbours prior to baits being placed in the approved locations on their property.
"A person who lays 1080 fox baits on a property of less than 100 ha must check the 1080 fox baits within five days of laying the baits and must collect any untaken 1080 fox baits within seven days of laying the 1080 fox bait," he said.
"It is also important to note that 1080 degrades when exposed to the elements, which means that every day within the time that it is in the environment, it becomes less potent and generally the risk is gone in about four weeks.
"1080 users are required to keep their notification signs up for this period to alert people of the possible risk.
"Any land manager who does not adhere to the strict conditions of the use of 1080 will not receive baits from Local Land Services."
If Local Land Services do have evidence that land managers are not abiding by the restrictions relating to the use of 1080 they will notify the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a further investigation and determination.
Visit www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/pesticides/pesticides-nsw-overview/pesticide-control-orders/guidance-for-using-1080 for more information on the use of 1080.
If you would like to sign Mr Samulski's petition, visit change.org for more information.
