A wallaby was attacked and chased into the surf by two dogs on a local beach earlier this week. The two dogs were on a dog-free section of the beach at New Brighton. This follows at least two known wallaby attacks by dogs in March and July 2018 near Belongil.
‘Some people are still ignoring the Byron Shire Beach rules. When a man approached in an attempt to help the animal, it took off into the bush but it was obvious that one of it’s front paws had been injured,’ said one local who emailed in photos of the incident.
‘As you people know the stress can often kill wallabies,’ said another local who did not wish to be named.
‘Unrestrained and unaccompanied dogs in our area (New Brighton/South Golden Beach) are a major problem and we find that Council is not invested in curbing the situation. I have been chased back into my car due to unrestrained dogs being in public places in this area in the past. Even when I’ve provided council with evidence of the dogs and been able to identify the owner no action was taken.’
It is believed that someone on the beach knew the owner of at least on of the dogs and was going to speak with them.
‘All too often these incidents go unreported to Council so their statistics do not reflect the reality of the problem. Although the stats on dog attacks are rather high virtually no fines are issued even when they know the identity of the dog owner,’ the local said.
People are encouraged to report concerns regarding dogs to Byron Shire Council rangers on 6626 7107.
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