We need to accept that in the wild, dingoes rule

DOGS are among our best and most loyal allies in life but there are times when we have to respect that not all animals are domestic.

WILD: Dingoes on Fraser Island. Picture: Kingfisher Bay Resort

WHEN it comes to animals I'm a bit of a passionate advocate for their wellbeing.

I find it puzzling when people get offended they've found a bug in their hot chook (fancy finding meat in your meat).

It confuses me when people think an image of a dead animal is distressing but they'll fry up a dead animal and eat it (either be offended or don't be offended but how can you pick and choose?).

Another one of the things I find perpetually puzzling is when we humans stick ourselves among wild animals and then act shocked when they behave like wild animals.

Such was the case at the weekend where a young boy was bitten by a dingo.

I can't imagine how frightened he must have been and I feel for this little one - I was once charged at by a rogue domestic dog that went straight for my throat and I was simply lucky to avoid its wrath.

Dogs are among our best and most loyal allies in life but there are times when we have to respect that not all animals are domestic.

Even our Alexandra Park Zoo dingoes, who have been raised around humans, are fascinatingly aloof.

I've often said hello to them, only to have them barely acknowledge me and walk off as if I don't even exist. There's hardly a domestic dog that would behave like that.

And that's just the thing, dingoes are not domestic dogs.

On Fraser Island, there are myriad signs telling people to walk in groups and be careful.

The little boy's father is quoted as saying the dogs were in a frenzy.

"The pack of dingoes saw him and went straight into the chase-and-kill instinct. They wanted blood," he said.

These are wild dogs protecting their own land.

Humans have destroyed more and more of their habitat and if this latest attack results in more culling, it's just going to squeeze our native species until there is nothing left.

Visiting Fraser Island is totally fine, but we need to accept that when we do, we go into the wild.