Stray dogs terrorising Gympie streets, resident claims

A Gympie man with thousands of social media followers claims stray dogs are posing a threat in his neighbourhood, and urged irresponsible dog owners to keep their animals contained.

A Gympie resident with a large Facebook following claims stray dogs are posing a threat in his neighbourhood.

His comments and a video he captured of a stray dog almost getting run over near Cartwright Road come in the wake of Gympie council moves to clamp down on “illegal” (unregistered) dogs in the region, which they estimate account for about half the dogs in the Gympie council area.

Retired weatherman Bill Edwards has a following of about 6500 on his Bill’s Place in Gympie page.

He recently posted footage from his street-facing security camera, taken 7.30pm on Tuesday, July 22.

“This dog along with several others is always roaming the street around Cartwright Rd areas,” he said.

“I’ve seen this one and his mates play dodgem with the cars many times, day and night.

“For (God’s) sake people.... Keep ya dogs at home with (the) gates shut!”

Lost dogs are a common theme on Gympie community Facebook pages, such as these two reported on Rammutt Road, Chatsworth this week. Picture: Heidi McCormack

Mr Edwards said his wife was confronted by two large dogs while gardening several months ago around 10am.

“I saw it on the (security) cameras from inside, and my blood froze,” he said.

“She went and picked up a plastic chair just to shoo the dog away, and the dog barked at her.

“The second dog “was watching her 10 feet away, and I f***** froze.”

Mr Edwards said by the time he got to his wife to help, “the dogs had bolted”.

They were big enough that a grown man would struggle to handle them in a confrontation, he said.

The issue of stray dogs in the community had been “going on for years”, and Mr Edwards said he had contacted the Gympie council multiple times, to little avail.

A stray dog is almost run over near Cartwright Road in Gympie, where resident Bill Edwards says there are too many and they pose a threat to people.

The council, however, disputed that claim, saying it had a record of only one complaint from Mr Edwards, dated early 2024.

A spokesman said on Friday its records indicated Mr Edwards had contacted the council once, in February 2024, regarding roaming dogs in the area.

“At the time, it was noted that the dogs sighted did not display any signs of aggression,” the spokesman said.

“Following this, council investigated the matter on 14 February 2024.

“Rangers were able to identify the dogs’ address and owners.

“A Notice of Enclosure was issued to the owner to ensure the dogs are securely contained on the property.

“There have been no further complaints received in relation to the dogs posing a risk to nearby residents, including children attending martial arts classes in the area.”

The spokesman said the council continued to monitor reports of roaming dogs and took any complaints involving aggressive behaviour towards community members very seriously.

“Our priority is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone in the community,” he said.

In the table below are the statistics of the council’s Roaming and Animal pick-ups and impounding month-by-month for 2024-2025.

Mr Edwards said he was fearful that children at the nearby karate school were at risk from the stray dogs.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt,” he said.

He said not all stray dogs were threatening, and that he did not blame them for their instincts, but that it was the owner’s responsibility to keep them inside.

Originally published as Stray dogs terrorising Gympie streets, resident claims