By JONATHON HOWARD
A SAVAGE dog attack near Marcus Beach in June has prompted a resident to speak out about Noosa’s secret dog issues.
Richard Jordan was walking his Chinese shar pei, “Sandy”, at the off-leash section at the northern end of Castaway Beach on 16 June about 9.30am.
He said his dog had approached another dog, believed to be a German pointer, and attempted to play with the pointer.
But within seconds the pointer had sunk its teeth into Sandy and started tearing her to shreds.
“It was an absolute nightmare,” Mr Jordan said.
Mr Jordan said he attempted to separate the two dogs and was himself bitten by the pointer.
“I realise it was likely the pointer did not mean to bite me, as I attempted to intervene, but I couldn’t stand there as Sandy was being savagely mauled,” he said.
Sandy suffered severe gouges to her neck and throat and blood was gushing from her head.
Mr Jordan suffered four puncture wounds to his right leg.
The owner of the pointer was allegedly 50 metres away from the attack when it occurred. He ran towards his dog and arrived after the dog fight, according to Mr Jordan.
“The owner (of the pointer) was apologetic and offered to drive me to the hospital and Sandy to the vet,” Mr Jordan said.
After the incident, Mr Jordan decided to approach Noosa Council to investigate the incident, hoping to avoid a recurrence.
“Two Noosa Council rangers came to interview me about the incident and a week later they interviewed the other owner,” he said.
After a few more weeks, Mr Jordan received a letter explaining that because there were no “independent witnesses”, council would not be taking action against “either dog”, the letter read.
Mr Jordan was shocked at the suggestion that his dog was somehow in the wrong and felt the council failed to understand the situation.
He has now slammed the council for what he says is being “out of touch” with the magnitude of local dog issues.
“The majority of dog owners do the right thing in Noosa,” he said.
“But when incidents like this occur, and I understand there’s no grounds for a conviction when there is no independent witness, but the aggressive dog could at least have been monitored and assessed to avoid any future attacks.”
Mr Jordan said he also had concerns that council rangers were missing dozens of daily incidents where dog owners are breaking clearly defined laws around off-leash and on-leash areas, as well as attacks which go unreported.
“I’ve walked up and down the beach for years and never once seen a ranger issue a dog infringement notice to a dog owner doing the wrong thing, despite seeing dozens of cases where the rules are clearly being broken,” he said.
“I think council is out of touch with the scale of dog issues in the shire and more needs to be done.”
Mr Jordan said he remained angry and disapointed with Noosa Council’s response and dog investigation techniques.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you been the victim of a dog attack? Or have you had enough of dog owners flouting the rules? Send us your thoughts to newsdesk@noosatoday.net.au
Anyone involved in a dog incident can report it to Noosa Council by phoning: (07) 5329 6500
