The Department of Conservation has paid $8500 compensation to the owner of a dog that died from 1080 poisoning.
Jim Shilton's labrador ate a possum that had consumed 1080 bait at Nydia Bay in the Marlborough Sounds last July.
The department hired Target Pest Enterprises for the 1080 possum control operation. It covered 3800ha of the Nydia track using ground control and aerial drops.
Mr Shilton, of Wairau Valley, said he did not know about the operation when he visited relatives at Nydia Bay with his three black labradors.
The department's Sounds spokesman, Roy Grose, said the compensation included payment for the loss of the dog, veterinary and legal costs.
DoC had taken responsibility for dealing with notification issues concerns raised by the incident. Newspaper advertisements had been placed and residents informed of the 2001 operation at a meeting in November 2000. However, they did not receive operation information packs with maps, as they should have.
One of the dogs caught a possum while out on a run around the scenic reserve, about 500m outside the operation boundary.
Later that day Mr Shilton said he found the dog dead in his van.
DoC procedures had been reviewed and improved to ensure it did not happen again, Mr Grose said.
- NZPA
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