More Dog Attacks in Town

YESTERDAY morning Deb O’Brien walked outside to find “Mumma sheep” as her grandchildren named her dead and the two German Shepherd’s responsible still in the paddock.

When the dogs saw Deb they rushed towards her barking viciously.

Deb said she had never been so scared in her life and was a wreck by the time she made it back into her house in Susan Street.

“The two dogs came at me I was half way between the house and the gate to the paddock,” said Deb.

“I can’t run, and i got back into the house and lost it and the dogs were still at the fence losing it,” she said.

“I rang Mick hysterical and I rang the police and said ‘I need you to come and shoot these dogs and I want the person charged I am over it this is the third time dogs have done this to us,” she said.

“My boys came and got the dogs, they drove the ute into the paddock and one looked like it was going to bite him, but he got them,” Deb O’Brien said.

The same dogs had previously killed 12 sheep in one night and the owner assured the O’Brien’s that the dogs would be kept securely, but they weren’t.

In a separate incident a kelpie-cross and a collie-cross killed one of their last two remaining sheep, which Mick caught and they were both put down.

Mick O’Brien, who has lived here for more than 40 years said the problem was getting worse and he is frustrated by the number of dog attacks.

“If it was a little kid down there this morning, like our grand kids giving them a carrot what would have happened?” questioned Mick O’Brien.

“And kids ride their bikes and walk down this road all the time, what if they got one of them?

“Council have to do something about these dogs around town before a child is killed.

“They’ve only spent $40,000 on each canine unit they have, which obviously doesn’t work, because they didn’t use it to come and get these dogs.

“They have to control people’s dogs!

“If this happened in the city the dogs would be put down, it’s just wrong that they can come in and take the grand kids pets like that,” he said.

“The whole of Scone is semi-rural and people have chooks and birds and things and you should be able to have these animals in town without it being taken from you by some idiot’s dogs,” said Mick.

Deb and Mick have three retired hunting dogs on their property, which are pets, but are kept securely in an enclosure.

Mick said he doesn’t understand why other dog owners won’t do the same.

“If you are going to have these dogs in town put them in a proper enclosure, not something where they can slip their collar off,” he said.

“It’s not hard to do, we’ve done it here with the three old hunting dogs we have,” Mick O’Brien said.

After the dogs were caught by Deb’s son, the police did attend and attempted to contact the owner of the dogs.

To Report a Dog:

• In the case of a dog attack or damage to property: Phone Police and record an event number: 02 6542 6999
• In the case of a nuisance or menacing dog: Phone Council and record a complaint number: 02 6540 1100
• Council has an after-hours number which can be used to report non-emergency events: 02 6540 1199
• NOTE: There is a 72 hour period in which a dog can be seized following an attack.

Related stories:

• Two More Dogs Attack – Still At Large – October 16, 2018.
• Dog Owners to be Brought to Heel – August 29, 2018.
• By-Law for Hunting Dogs Considered – August 29, 2018.
• Residents Growl at Ongoing Dog Issues – August 29, 2018.
• Teenager Attacked by Dog in Town – August 3, 2018.
• Map: Dodgy Dog Trails – August 3, 2018.
• Killer Dogs Slipping Bureaucratic Net – June 18, 2018.
• Lack of Control with Dog Control – July 28, 2016.