By Mikayla van Loon
A recent mauling, and subsequent euthanasia, of a kangaroo at Lillydale Lake is a stark reminder of the importance of control and recall for dogs who are off leash.
At around 9.30am on Friday 11 October a walker at the Lake witnessed the attack as two dogs, one said to be a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the other a Whippet, chased a young adult male kangaroo around the off leash dog park.
“Screams were heard from two dog owners trying to unsuccessfully recall their dogs. We watched two dogs chasing and biting a juvenile male eastern grey kangaroo which had been flushed out of hiding,” the onlooker, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
“After a couple of laps of the dog park, the dogs did not tire and the roo headed over the lake wall into the water. One of the two dogs followed it in and continued to bite it on the jaw. The kangaroo held the dog under the water for several minutes.”
Another person at the Lake was able to wade into the shallow water and separate the dog from the kangaroo but the frightened animal swam further into the Lake, eventually getting itself caught in reeds.
“We watched the kangaroo swim out to the middle of the lake covered in blood and called Wildlife Victoria.
“[It was] tangled to the point it could not get out, we waited a little over two hours for a volunteer wildlife crew to arrive. At this point the roo had been up to its head in the water, still bleeding.”
Three rescuers from Vets For Compassion, Vicki, Jacob and Jacquie, responded to the Lake, with founder, unpaid chief executive officer and vet Elaine Ong on Facetime to assess the injuries sustained.
“One of our rescuers, Jacob, got in the water. [The kangaroo] was in such a state of shock that he could be handled easily. Normally a healthy kangaroo would require sedation but he was in such a state of shock that he just allowed Jacob to pick him up and carry him to shore,” Ms Ong said.
“It had a broken jaw, multiple bites everywhere to its face, feet, body, and it was ready to die, I suppose.
“With dogs and cats, we can fix their jaws but with an adult kangaroo, we can’t put them in a hospital cage, they die from stress, so we made the decision to put him to sleep. It was very, very sad for our rescuers.”
Ms Ong said no matter how many times this decision is made, to humanely euthanise an animal, it never gets any easier.
“We do this every day, of course, and it’s very sad. Sometimes it’s rewarding, sometimes it’s sad. I think the public doesn’t understand that it takes a toll on the rescuers and the vets and the nurses, because sometimes you just can’t put them back together,” she said.
Those who witnessed the attack and stayed with the kangaroo said it was a very sad end but it was the best choice for the roo.
“The whole situation was extremely traumatic to those who witnessed the ordeal,” the onlooker said.
Unfortunately in Ms Ong’s line of work, she said these kinds of maulings happen far too often and the message will always be to keep your dog on a leash if they cannot be recalled.
“We see it often enough. These two dogs were at an off leash dog park and they had the right to be there, but the owner was unable to control them. They certainly didn’t come back when called, according to the members of the public,” she said.
“Our message is that if you own dogs and you walk in parts where there are kangaroos, please have them on leash, unless you’re confident your dogs will obey you and recall and come back to you.
“Because two things can happen. Your dog could get attacked by the roo if it is defending itself. That’s for the safety of your own dogs. And if your dog gets attacked, you might end up trying to help your dog and get injured in the process.
“So for everyone’s safety, people have to be aware, if you’re walking in a park where there’s kangaroos, please have your dogs on leash, or make sure dogs are obedient so they won’t chase.”
Vets For Compassion is a Victorian charity founded in 2016 with volunteers “committed all hours of the day and night to carry out life saving rescues and treatment”.
Ms Ong said the idea initially started in China training vets and nurses to use anaesthetics, perform desexing surgery and administer pain relief mainly in stray dogs and cats.
At a similar time in Victoria, the state was experiencing one of its worst bushfires – Black Saturday in 2009.
Since then, Ms Ong said, Vets For Compassion have been the first responders to every natural disaster including Ballarat’s fires earlier this year, Mallacoota in 2019-20 and the Cape Bridgewater koala massacre after a plantation owner cleared habitat trees.
On a day to day, the organisation specialises “in capturing animals humanely, particularly large animals, because we have trained people to use dart guns” as well as providing general veterinary advice.
“We do what we can. We help everybody who calls. We have vets who can give vet advice. We have nurses, rescuers,” Ms Ong said.
“The rescuers are very good with animals. They’re good with kangaroos. Some of them specialise in wildlife, others are better with cats and dogs. We also partner with a shelter called Forever Friends where we do desexing surgeries, so I went and desexed 24 puppies.”
The average week will see up to 90 calls for assistance and around 100 desexing surgeries for cats and dogs.
Despite all of this Ms Ong said the charity relies solely on donations and private funding, with “absolutely zero funding from the government”.
“That’s not enough to keep our organisation alive,” she said.
Between the cost of mileage, dart guns, drugs, medications and cars, Ms Ong said the sustainability of the charity is a constant battle.
And as housing and development of road networks continue to encroach on habitat, Ms Ong said the more frequent vets and rescuers are having to respond to freeways or estates to sedate wildlife and relocate them.
“This is 2024 we’ve got volunteers who need help all over the state. We should be helping to somehow find a solution before we push the animals out onto the road and get injured.”
More information about the charity can be found by visiting vetsforcompassion.org
