Linear Park dog attacks prompt Campbelltown Council to install signs warning owners to keep pets on leads

NEW signs instructing owners to keep dogs on leashes will be installed along part of the River Torrens Linear Park after a grandmother endured three attacks in less than three years.

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NEW signs instructing owners to keep dogs on leashes will be installed on the Campbelltown side of Linear Park after an Athelstone woman endured three attacks in less than three years.

Resident Sharon Tilsley told a council meeting last week she had suffered a fractured spine and dislocated shoulder, had a traumatised granddaughter and had paid thousands of dollars in vet and medical bills after being attacked by dogs in three separate incidents since July 2015.

She said her neighbour had also suffered a knee injury in a random dog attack this year.

The council immediately voted to approve up to $6000 worth of new signs near the River Torrens Linear Park footpaths reminding dog owners to keep their pets on leashes.

Tea Tree Gully Council has no plans at this stage to change six signposted areas of the park where dogs are allowed to run free on its side of the river, while most of the Port Adelaide Enfield Council section of Linear Park is already designated as a dog-on-leash area.

Still wearing a back brace following her injuries, Ms Tilsley told the Campbelltown Council meeting the first attack occurred while walking her two golden retrievers.

A dog-on-leash sign from Holdfast Bay.

“A large dog raced past me, it circled me aggressively,” she said.

“I twisted and turned to keep myself between my dogs and the circling dog.

“The owner was 500m away and took several minutes to catch up.

“In the process of trying to protect my dogs ... I fractured my spine.

“I couldn’t drive for five months.”

Then, in about March 2016, two “extraordinarily large dogs” knocked her three-year-old granddaughter over.

“The dogs came from behind us and sped between my granddaughter and I, knocking her to the ground,” she said.

“She was bruised, grazed and terrified, screaming.”

Ms Tilsley was also left with a dislocated shoulder in June after her dogs were attacked by a staffordshire bull terrier.

“Again, (the dog) took us by surprise,” she said.

“In fending the dog off and trying to get my dogs away from it, I dislocated my shoulder.

“It would be fair to estimate the financial cost of dog-related incidents over the past three years in thousands including medical and vet bills.

“My shoulder is unstable and I expect to have treatment for that into the future.”

She said Linear Park was a “gorgeous place to walk your dog” but changes had to be made.

“I walk now with great trepidation, I look over my shoulder,” she said.

“(The signs) will make a huge difference to how safe the park is.

She was relieved the council supported her idea.

“It is a start. Changing perception and culture may take a little longer.”

Cr Ryan said it was a “miracle” Ms Tilsley had survived her ordeals while Cr Amber said there appeared to be more dogs in the park than ever.

A Tea Tree Gully Council spokesman said dogs could walk unleashed in six specific areas of the park on the side administered by that council.

He would not be drawn on whether there had been issues with off-leash dogs on the Tea Tree Gully side.

The Linear Park on the River Torrens. Picture: Ben Cameron

“There are signs displayed in areas where the dogs need to be on lead,” he said.

“There are also some information signs in the off-lead areas about managing a dog off lead (and) signs on most bridges crossing the River Torrens for people coming from the City of Campbelltown to the City of Tea Tree Gully, as we have different rules.”

Most of the Port Adelaide Enfield Council section of Linear Park is designated as a dog-on-leash area, with other parts designated as areas where dogs must be “under effective control” but not necessarily on a lead unless signposted.