Jack Carmody might finally have a solution to his camel problem.
Close to 800 wild camels are culled every year on his family-run cattle station, Prenti Downs, about 1,200 kilometres north-east of Perth.
Now, thanks to a new partnership with a company in the state's south-west, meat from the notorious pests is being trucked to Albany and turned into pet food.
"We hate to see waste," Mr Carmody said.
"It's too good of an opportunity not to take, as opposed to the traditional 'pop and rot' method."
With feral camels rampant in the region, he estimates about 140 tonnes of meat could be sourced from Prenti Downs annually, presenting an opportunity for a sustainable new industry.
But it is not without its logistical headaches.
1,500km to the processing plant
A crucial part of the process is ensuring the meat is frozen within two days.
But in remote WA, that's easier said than done.
"We need to be able to get the meat, within 48 hours, to frozen to increase the life span of it," Mr Carmody said.
"[But] we're talking 1,500km from Prenti Downs to the processing plant in Albany."
He believes government funding could be put towards creating a profitable and sustainable industry, while using locally sourced labour.
"It's a high-risk investment for a small business to acquire a blast chiller, which can achieve that warm meat to frozen within that 48-hour period," Mr Carmody said.
"There's an opportunity out here to say, put in an off-grid, completely solar-powered blast chiller on-site … you would be able to get meat here into a chiller… and then get it to the blast freezer.
"All the while, you've got a team of people who love the land and want to see a solution to a problem."
Mr Carmody said Prenti Downs staff had saved the government and taxpayer "millions of dollars" through the sheer number of feral pests they had culled on the station.
"Instead of it being a cost centre, we can actually turn this into something that's going to be profitable," he said.
Camel meat 'clean and safe'
Ethan Sylvester, owner of Albany business Paul's Pet Foods, oversees the processing.
He said camel was a "lean meat" that worked "really well" for pet consumption.
"There's no indospicine [a plant toxin] or 1080 [poison] up in that area, so the camels are clean and safe from it," he said.
"It's such a beautiful product and it holds well.
"The long goal would be to process it all up there and bring it back frozen, so the life of the meat is even longer again."
While a major threat to the nation's native flora and fauna, some feral animals are so widespread that eradication is seen as almost impossible.
Some experts now see the creation of sustainable new markets as the best way to address the issue.
Mr Sylvester hopes to see more camel meat processed for human consumption in coming years.
"There's no reason why we can't bring this to human consumption and start using these animals, instead of culling them and leaving them like we do," he said.
"It's such a wasted resource."
