WIRES received a call recently from someone reporting neighbouring dogs chasing a wallaby.
Macropods (kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons) cannot handle stressful situations.
In the wild, if an animal chases a wallaby, it will kill and eat it.
When pets chase a wallaby for sport, the animal may escape but will develop stress myopathy, an irreversible, always fatal condition with no known treatment.
Stress myopathy is a gradual breakdown of muscle tissue over a two-week period, causing increasing physical weakness until the animal is dragging itself around, a horrible way to die.
Please use a lead if you exercise your dog in areas where macropods live.
Contain all pets especially from dusk through dawn when many native wildlife are out and about.
It will keep your beloved pets safer, too.
If you spot wildlife in trouble, call WIRES on the local Hotline at 6628 1898. Any time. 24 hours/7 days.
Muriel Kinson, WIRES Northern Rivers
Unfortunately Muriel there is an unhealthy preoccupation in our area for large breed dogs with ugly dispositions used to hunt and protect households with something to hide.
Stress on wildlife will continue until owners are re-educated with large fines for allowing dogs to roam and ownership of large breeds is discouraged by outlawing backyard breeding and adding a few more breeds to the restricted breed list.