A dingo involved in an attack on Queensland’s K’Gari island that left a woman in hospital has been euthanised.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service confirmed the killing on Wednesday, as a man who stepped in to save council worker Sarah Peet, 23, shared more details of Monday’s incident.
The department said the tracked “high-risk” dingo was responsible for the attack on Peet and the earlier hospitalisation of a six-year-old girl, both on the land formerly known as Fraser Island.
QPWS said euthanising a dingo was a “last resort” and the “tough decision” had been supported by the island’s traditional owners, the Butchulla people.
“The animal is around two years old, and when it was collared in April it weighed more than 17 kilograms, which is heavy for a wongari and a clear indication that it has been fed,” the department said in a statement
“It was also clear from its behaviour that it had become habituated, either by being fed or from people interacting with it for videos and selfies.
“The animal had lost its natural wariness of people, and entering campsites or loitering around people is not normal dingo behaviour.”
News of the dingo’s death came hours after Shane Moffat described described how he punched one of the dogs as it attacked Peet while she was out jogging.
Shane and Sarah Moffatt saw Peet in a fight for her life. Mr Moffatt said Peet was “screaming” and was being attacked and running in waist-deep water to try to stop the wild dogs.
He risked his own safety to go help on Orchid Beach on the tourist island.
“I could see fear in her face that she wasn’t in a good way,” he said.
“There was a big piece missing out of her arm there and there was puncture wounds all up the side of her legs.”
He forced himself between Peet and the collared dingo, known by K’gari rangers as “CC Green”.
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The dingo, which has been tagged, as it has previously shown aggression, went for him.
Wednesday night’s QPWS statement did not name CC Green but described a dog matching its description.
“He was coming for me,” Mr Moffat said.
“When I hit him, he kind of shook twice on his head, but then he still lunged at me with a bit of aggression.”
Ms Moffatt caught some of the ordeal on video, but it’s too graphic to show.
The couple managed to get Peet out of the water and to their ute, as the wild dogs continued to attack.
“The dingo tried to get her off the back. grab her off the back of the tailgate,” Mr Moffatt said.
Peet was airlifted to hospital with 30 cuts to her body.
Despite the Moffats’ terrifying ordeal, they said it wouldn’t stop them from returning to K’gari.
Environment Minister Leanne Linard has flown to the island to meet with rangers.
She was handed her own “dingo stick” – tourists are being urged to carry sticks for protection – but wouldn’t confirm if anything more will be done.
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