A community in Far North Queensland is pleading for more help to crack down on wandering stray animals after a recent spate of dog attacks.
Last week, a 51-year-old woman was taken to hospital after she was attacked on a street in Yarrabah, near Cairns.
Dog bites accounted for 23 presentations to Yarrabah Hospital's emergency department in 2022, according to Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service.
Yarrabah Mayor Ross Andrews said the recent incidents were "causing very serious concern to the community".
"We've got elders out there, we've got young kids as well, playing in the streets, walking," he said.
Under the council's local laws, wandering or stray animals can be taken to the pound and disposed of if not claimed.
Mr Andrews said the council wanted to work with owners to prevent further attacks.
But he said with a large population and almost 360 social housing properties, the council needed more members in its animal management team.
The state government has guaranteed annual funding for Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council to deliver environmental health and animal management services until 2029.
It was still considering ongoing additional funding to address animal control issues in the community.
"We would like to call on government to really invest in our unit out here so we can provide some form of enforcement but also some support to families who live in these neighbourhoods," Mr Andrews said.
Out of control breeding to be targeted
Yarrabah is a discrete Aboriginal community with an estimated population of about 4,000 people.
"The community itself doesn't have access to a vet directly here, for desexing for example," Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services director of clinical services Jason King said
"So dogs are free to breed as they want, and fencing is usually a difficult thing to maintain as well.
"Not all the dogs are aggressive, but certainly they're very familiar."
Dr King said bites from animals should be taken seriously as puncture wounds may extend deeper than expected.
"And particularly when it comes to hands, the risk to tendons and nerves is one that we have to be very, very mindful of," he said.
Dr King said maintaining a healthy animal population was an important part of maintaining a healthy community.
"That includes initiatives for desexing of animals to prevent out of control reproduction," he said.
Mr Andrews said the council had reminded owners to register their animals, and limited the number of animals which could be kept at a home.
"We are calling on our people really to take responsibility and register dogs, fence dogs or impound them so we can create a safe community," he said.
Yarrabah council is also worried about the management of stray horses and injuries to children riding them.
