Delicate eggs, nosey dogs and scared wombats: The Bass Coast dilemma

Up against a gangly red setter, or a well-fed labrador, racing along the shoreline with the wind at its tail, the delicate hooded plover eggs and fluffy chicks don’t stand a chance.

The dogs don’t mean any harm, but their freedom on the sand, and in other areas where non-canines live and roam, is taking a toll on Bass Coast.

It’s led to a situation where volunteers are having to offer hooded plover security services, setting up a cordon sanitaire around the nests during crucial periods in the breeding cycle. They are also using cameras to monitor wombat burrows.

As with many Victorian communities, locals who love wildlife and dogs in Bass Coast are trying to find ways to work together to ensure the pooches get to stretch out in safe spaces while not making life difficult for hooded plovers, other nesting birds and wombats.

Bass Coast Shire councillors are hopeful new dog on-leash guidelines will help them assess where man's best friend can and can’t roam freely.

What happened: At a council meeting last week, Bass Coast Shire Council released its draft Dogs in Public Places Guidelines for a four-week community consultation period.

Bass Coast Shire councillor Mat Morgan told the Monitor there are plenty of beaches in the shire for dogs to be set free, but “there are so many cases where domestic animals are impeding on the space of natural wildlife. This framework is a bit of a balancing act”.

Community groups take care

Some Bass Coast Shire community groups have taken the protection of native wildlife into their own hands.

Friends of San Remo Wombats volunteer, Eve Kelly, told the Monitor: “Dogs are natural predators to wombats. They can obviously attack wombats, and a small joey without the protection of their mother is vulnerable.

“Our native wildlife haven't evolved to withstand the bacteria from a cat or a dog bite, even a small scratch of a tooth under their skin can cause bacterial infections that can kill them.”

Kelly said death from a bacterial infection can take a few weeks.

“Unless they're brought into care and treated with antibiotics, they're unlikely to survive.”

Her community group has spotted 124 dogs burying their heads in wombat burrows since November 2024 at San Remo Back Beach.

• Kelly said cameras had spotted 44 dogs since the council put up signs in June 2025 asking residents to keep their pooches away from the dunes.

“We haven't had any indication whether any of those dogs have been identified or if the owners are being warned,” Kelly said.

Kelly said she’s hopeful the rules for the beach will be reassessed.

Plover patrol

Every summer, volunteers for the Friends of the Hooded Plover group in Inverloch talk to dog owners on the beach about the bird's nesting area.

• Hooded plovers like to nest in sandy open areas with sparse vegetation, making them vulnerable to roaming dogs.

Morgan said council puts stakes in the ground to section off nesting areas. 

You can have your say here. Deadline May 13, 2026.

Cover image credits: Wombat at Australia Zoo by John. Red-capped Plover chicks by Leo.