A resident who witnessed one of two alleged dog attacks in Sunbury last month addressed Hume council on her experience, as a notice of motion was debated calling for changes to local laws to improve resident safety and pet welfare.
Sunbury resident Cathy Cleaver told councillors at the September 9 meeting that she was walking ahead of a 71-year-old woman on Melba Avenue on 29 August, when she witnessed multiple dogs attack the elderly lady.
“If they hadn’t … got her, they would have got me,” Ms Cleaver said.
Another woman with a pram was allegedly attacked by the same animals in a park behind Withers Close the next day, August 30.
“The alleged dogs did horrific injuries to both women,” Ms Cleaver said.
Ms Cleaver asked the council if the state government had been contacted to review laws within the Domestic Animal Act 1994.
A council officer responded that contact had been made with the Department of Agriculture following the recent attacks, and while Hume had not requested a review of the act, it would identify potential amendments after its own review into the matter.
Ms Cleaver also asked the council if it had considered working more closely with RSPCA and had it made contact with the organisation to set up a collaborative program addressing animal welfare in Hume for the sake of both residents and pets.
An officer said that council had not yet contacted the RSPCA but planned to do so to explore options.
In his notice of motion, Cr Jarrod Bell called for the council to conduct an immediate review of its internal reporting and response systems, ensuring compliance with permit requirements for multiple dogs under Hume City Local Law and dangerous dog declaration processes under the Domestic Animals Act 1994.
His motion, which was passed, also called for the council to develop a clear communications strategy to help residents understand the reporting process for dangerous dogs and reassess all dog on-lead and off-lead areas in Hume.
The motion was criticised by councillor Jodi Jackson who said it was “political grandstanding” and that “officers already appeared to be in the process of making the changes that this motion proposes to make before the motion was submitted”.
Cr Medcraft said it was not “a grandstand“.
“It’s the fact that we’re trying to put a resolution together to get this addressed….. the state government has got to make that change so we’ve got the laws to work with.“
Cr Jackson said that she empathised with the victims.
“As someone who’s had to have a limb reattached, I can empathise in a very personal way with the long and very difficult road to recovery that these women will undoubtedly face,” Cr Jackson said.
