NEWS DESK
Dogs seized after alpacas mauled Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au
Treasured memories: Sharon Richardson, right, with her alpacas Lui and Juno before they were killed by a roaming dog. Pictures: Supplied
TWO dogs seized over the mauling and killing of two pet alpacas at Fingal last week will have their fate decided by a magistrates’ court. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s environment protection manager John Rankine said investigations were continuing into the incident Sunday 1 September when a “pit bull terrier or bull terrier dog” was seen mauling the alpacas at a Harmony Road property. “Officers are busy with the investigation collating evidence for prosecution in court,” Mr Rankine said. “The decision about euthanasia is pending on this evidence and the court decision. Until such time the dogs will remain impounded.” Two shire rangers called to the property found the loved pets so badly injured that they had to be put down. The rangers drove around looking for the most aggressive of the dogs which was seen heading towards Moonah Links golf course. Owners of the pet alpacas Sharon Richardson, who runs Harmony B&B in Placadena Road with her husband Jeremy, said she heard knocking at her kitchen door in the afternoon and opened it to find her distraught neighbour coming to report the shocking news. “My neighbour heard squealing and
raced over to see a large Staffie-type dog attacking our alpacas,” she said. “He gathered stones from our pond to ward off the dog but it left off the alpacas and came after him. He had to jump the fence to get away from it.” Ms Richardson said she raced to the yard to find both alpacas in agony, one with the “side of its face ripped off” and the other with its bottom jaw savaged. The offending dog had run off towards properties backing onto Moonah Links Golf Course. A vet from Main Ridge came quickly but could do nothing to save the animals, which had to be put down. “They were beautiful family pets,” Ms Richardson said of Lui and Juno. “We have had them since they were babies and they were a huge part of our
life here at the B&B. “They were not just left to roam out in the paddock. They were a huge part of the experience here with the guests enjoying their company.” Ms Richardson said she has “serious concerns” about the dog attacking again – particularly children. “I didn’t see the dog, but I am told it is a large tan Staffie-type with a white chest and a big collar. It was roaming with a smaller dog.” Ms Richardson said she “feels so empty” after her loss. “First thing every morning I’d go down to the gate and [Lui and Juno] would be waiting for me and I’d give them some hay,” she said. “Now there’s no one waiting for me because of that bastard dog.”
Hard yards for a vital cause Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au CONCERNS about the plight of women – and especially girls – in less developed countries has prompted Sorrento resident Bruce Grey to once again get out of his comfort zone and challenge his physical capabilities. At 70 years old, the retired air force chaplain is leading a team in next month’s Tough Mudder Challenge – an event in which Mr Grey competed in each of the past two years when he was a spritely 68 and 69 years old. The famed endurance event being held at Lardner Park in Gippsland 19-20 October is contested by teams which raise money for worthwhile causes. The daunting 16-19km obstacle course plays on the need to overcome common human fears
– such as fire, water, electricity and heights. The first Tough Mudder was held in the US in 2010 and, since then, they have attracted millions of competitors. The money Mr Grey’s team raises – he is aiming for $10,000 – will go to a cause dear to his heart: CARE. The international humanitarian aid organisation fights global poverty with a special focus on assisting poor and marginalised women and girls and to bring beneficial change to their communities. Mr Grey’s fundraising efforts began during a discussion over a deeply moving book between himself and another officer at the RAAF Base at East Sale in 2015. Both had just read Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which detailed the extraordinary stories of struggling women in
Asia and Africa. With a shared desire to raise awareness of their struggles and somehow organise an effort to help them, the men began the Half the Sky campaign named after an ancient Chinese proverb affirming that women “hold up half the sky”. The officers’ campaign culminated in a day of physical challenges to determine the strongest, fastest and smartest members at the RAAF base while raising money for the cause. It turned in to a show of strength, endurance, intelligence and, most importantly, compassion. “I did this three years running before it went out to the whole Air Force,” Mr Grey said. Four years on, the now-retired chaplain’s passion for the cause still runs deep. “Twenty thousand girls are married
underage every day in the developing world,” he said. “One young female dies in childbirth every two minutes because they are just too young to have children. They are robbed of an education and a future and turned into baby-making machines unable to fulfil their dreams of a better life; their children are condemned to poverty.” Mr Grey said more females died in the last half of the 20th Century than men died in all the wars over the past 100 years. “In many countries – unlike here in the West – there are fewer women than men,” he said. “This fact lies behind the asylumseeker issue and much of the poverty and civil strife in their impoverished countries.” Mr Grey believes improved treatment for women and girls is vital for world peace. “If my great, great-
grandchildren are not preparing for war it will be because we started educating and empowering girls today,” he said. He is proud of the work done by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. “Before they went over about a million children were going to school, yet now about six million are going to school and one third are girls.” Educating girls and empowering women in the developing world is the major challenge facing the 21st Century, he says. “It is of similar importance as the campaign to end slavery in the 19th Century and Totalitarianism in the 20th Century,” he said. “The girls need champions and I am happy to put my hand up.” Anyone wanting to join Mr Grey’s Tough Mudder team can call him on 0444 561 723.
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wholemedicine.com.au Southern Peninsula News 11 September 2019
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