By AIDAN KNIGHT

 

ON the same week Latrobe City Council moved motions surrounding the restrictions and policies on domestic animals, the community saw incidents involving a variety of pets.

On Wednesday, July 2, Police attended a case of a domestic dog attack in the Manny’s Market plaza, Morwell.

A man was seated at a coffee table within the market, with a dog on lead within the plaza around 9.30am, menacing anyone who happened to pass by.

The owner reportedly made little effort to restrain the dog, which was of the American Pit-cross description (according to Latrobe City Council).

This caused some alarm to customers and disrupted business, which was quickly noted by Mark Effenberg, owner of Out Of Dough Bakery, located within the plaza.

“Every time a customer came past, the dog would lunge”, he said.

“And he’d pull it back, but then let it do it again. It got to a point where a couple of our customers were saying (to staff) ‘that dog shouldn’t be in here’, so I said to him ‘look, mate you need to get your dog out’.”

The man was disgruntled by this request, and began to get defensive.

“He then stood up, and let the dog loose on the lead”, Mr Effenberg recounted, “one moment he had the lead all tight and the next it was completely slack, and the dog then bit me on the hand.”

Mr Effenberg then repeated again to the man that him and his dog needed to leave the market, only to receive more hostility from the pet-owner.

The man claimed it was a companion dog of some sort, which Mr Effenberg did not dispute or question, simply stating “I don’t care what kind of dog it is, it is not welcome in the market”, referring to it’s menacing nature and eagerness to bite anyone who approach it.

“He let go of the lead again, and it bit me in the groin”, Mr Effenberg said plainly.

He is now sporting a 15 centimetre bruise across the area and had to seek medical attention as a result of the attack.

Police promptly attended after the situation escalated, but the owner of the offending animal “bolted”, according to the victim.

At the time of the Express speaking with Mr Effenberg, there had been no follow-up from council on what was being done about the dangerous dog, or whether it was even being deemed as such.

Mr Effenberg was disappointed by this apparent lack of action, stating he had seen the dog and owner walking the streets hours later that day, and called council to no avail.

To his knowledge, the animal was still not apprehended, which he sees as a threat to the community.

“If that happened in Melbourne, or if it was a kid who had been bitten, it would have been impounded,” he said, shaking his head.

When giving his police statement on Friday , July 4, Mr Effenberg was informed that the same dog had bitten police officers the week before, which he feels indicates there is a lack of adequate community safety around dangerous animals.

Aside from the bodily harm and distress, the incident also cost Out Of Dough business.

“We lost customers while it was all going on, and these sorts of things have an impact on all businesses around the town”, he said.

“Police aren’t allowed to do a whole lot around these sorts of things, and they don’t have enough resources lately with the mushroom case (Erin Patterson trial) and everything else going on as it is.”

Mr Effenberg told the Express that the same dog had been on record as being in the pound on multiple occasions prior, meaning it was already known to council.

 

A DAY later, two dingoes were spotted roaming the streets of Traralgon East.

Kept as pets in the area, the native animals were seen strutting around suburbia, specifically the Furlonger/Cameron Street area last Thursday (July 3) around 2.30pm.

Police and DEECA quickly attended, and Latrobe City Council publicly informed residents to call 000 if they sighted the dingoes, although they only stated that one singular pet was loose.

The Express spoke to a resident living in the area (who wished to remain anonymous), and was informed that several dingoes had been escaping from the same property for years due to inadequate fencing.

“I would call them semi-domesticated,” the resident said.

“They would not attack a human, and they would follow you home if you led them back to their property, as my partner often did when they were roaming.

“Back in September 2023, one dingo was getting out consistently, and we had to euthanise our cat after the dingo attacked it.”

The resident tells of one dingo entering their property during the day, where they keep multiple cats. The resident inquired with Latrobe City and DEECA concerning the fencing of the property in 2024.

“He (the owner) just claimed that he could not keep it in the yard and paid for half of the vet bill,” the resident said, but claims the owner had not made any effort to better restrain the native animals, which he is registered to keep such pets under the relevant permits with DEECA.

The resident alleged the owner of the dingoes has had two put down in the past, after similar incidents.

“I don’t have a problem with dingoes, I’ve always been a big supporter of them, but personally don’t think they have a place in suburbia,” the resident said.

Police declined to comment on the matter.

While council’s revised domestic animal policy, discussed at the June 30 council meeting, included provisions for cat curfews and dog barking complaints, these two incidents have prompted further public discussion about council’s response to roaming or dangerous animals..

“Council wasn’t overly concerned with the fencing, or lack of,” the anonymous resident said concerning the dingo incident.

Latrobe City Council was approached for comment on both incidents.