Wednesday saw another wallaby put down after a suspected dog attack on the beach at Byron Bay, the second in a short period of time.
Sonia Friedrich, who found the injured wallaby, has called on locals and visitors alike to stop taking their dogs into areas of National Park, including up to the Byron Lighthouse.
‘No one thinks their dog will or can kill a wallaby or roo but they do,’ Sonia told The Echo.
On Tuesday Sonia went to Cosy Corner at Tallow Beach where she noticed a wallaby standing in the distance.
‘I had felt odd all morning, a little vague and felt like I had been called there, despite the bursts of rain. I went over to collect some rubbish in the vicinity and looked around for where it had gone. The wallaby completely disappeared. It seemed so weird. I looked and looked and then I found it nestled and hiding in the reeds. It didn’t move or hop away. That was odd behaviour in itself. I thought something was wrong and called National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS),’ she said.
NPWS arrived within half and hour and agreed that the wallaby needed assistance and calle WIRES Northern Rivers to assist. The wallaby was taken to the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital for assessment.
‘I called the hospital this morning. The wallaby did not survive. It was blind in one eye and had a broken spine. It was believed to be the result of a dog attack. Thankfully, the wallaby was able to die peacefully,’ said Sonia.
Sonia said this is the second wallaby death in this area in a short period of time and people need to stop takign their dogs there as this is a small and vulnerable population.
‘It’s devastating. This is their home. Respect it,’ she said.
Myopathy
Even if a wallaby or kangaroo doesn’t die immediately from a dog attack they will often die of myopathy following an attack.
‘Myopathy in Macropods (being wallabies, pademelons and kangaroos) happens when the animal is under extreme stress, as is the case when it is being attacked or chased by a dog,’ says WIRES.
‘The animal does not have to be injured directly to develop rhabdomyolysis, which is a disintegration of the muscle fibres. From within 24 hours up to a few weeks after the incident, the wallaby will show stiffness and paralysis mainly in the hindquarters, progressing to complete paralysis, it will also salivate excessively, death will occur within 2-14 days after the stressful incident.’
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