Hobsons Bay council has reviewed its use of weed killer after a dog’s paws turned blue in an off-leash dog park in Williamstown.
Julie-Anne Williams said that when she took her cavalier King Charles spaniel, Bonnie, to Cyril Curtain Reserve on Monday last week, her dog’s paws “suddenly turned blue”.
She immediately suspected weedkiller and rang the council, which ordered spraying be stopped immediately.
“They shouldn’t be spraying it close to the water, and they need to put up adequate signage and look at other ways to kill the weeds,” she said.
“It makes me concerned that other people that are walking in that dog park don’t know that the area has been sprayed.
“There were actually a lot of people walking their dogs that day – and a few people, their dogs had blue feet as well.”
The council confirmed Bonnie’s paws had been affected by a mixture of dye and weedkiller.
Infrastructure and city services director Bill Millard said: “We are aware that a small dog ran through an area that had been sprayed earlier that morning and that is regrettable.
“We’ve … undertaken a further review of our procedures to avoid this happening again and have decided to increase our signage, treat smaller areas at a time and reduce spraying nearby to off-leash areas.”
