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Man baffled by council's $718 fine for little-known dog rule: 'INSANE'

A man's ongoing battle with a Queensland council over his dogs being fined is attracting plenty of attention online.

A Queensland man has been hit with a hefty fine due to his two German shepherds being able to "protrude" over his fence, he claims.

The Hervey Bay resident said he will be contesting the $718 fine issued for a 'breach of compliance — dogs being able to protrude under/over/through the fence'.

But for the owner, the kicker was the photo attached to the fine, showing his dogs peering through the fence as "evidence" of the rule breach.

A photo that was taken by Fraser Coast Regional Council to show that the dogs are not adequately contained in the yard. Another photo of the notice the man received from Council explaining the situation.
A Hervey Bay man is fighting council for their fine about a fence that allegedly does not adequately contain his dogs. Source: TikTok/theangrymechanic888

"Sending me a picture of my dogs looking through a fence while you're walking up on the grass – what do you think they're going to do? They're German shepherds!" the father said in his now viral TikTok, addressing Fraser Coast Regional Council.

"Do they try and bite you? No. Have they ever bitten another person? No."

"They say I have to extend the fence by two feet," he explained in the comments. "It's a sturdy gate, no different to anyone else’s fence on the street."

Saga started when dogs escaped

The 'breach of compliance' notice comes after the man's dogs "figured out how to open the electric gate" — leading to a $287 fine which the pet owner paid because he was "in the wrong".

"These smart dogs realised they could push on the electric gate to trigger a safety mechanism that would open the gates," he said in another video. He claimed he has since disengaged the gate from the electric motor, making it manual.

"Yes there were previous issues about my dogs getting out, I filmed them getting out, I supplied that to council with the proof that I had rectified the situation," he said.

Though he claimed council found the footage "unacceptable", suggesting he "could've edited the footage".

Council comment on Hervey Bay dog dispute

Yahoo News Australia reached out to Fraser Coast Regional Council. "The fine was issued for not complying with a notice to improve the enclosure to ensure containment," a spokesman said.

"The dogs had earlier jumped the fence. The owners were directed to make improvements to stop their pets escaping again, to which the owners did not comply.

"The owners were not fined for the animals being able to see through the fence."

A photo of the man's front yard in Queensland. A photo of his german shepherds in the yard.
The man is insisting his dogs do not pose a danger and that he has already rectified the situation. Source: TikTok/theangrymechanic888

Social media users react to dog rule

Many people have been keeping up with the Queenslander's fight on social media, calling the fine amount "insane" and saying they are puzzled by the reasoning.

"Very confused how a dog looking through a fence is a problem," one said.

"Which part of them is protruding? The tip of their paw? I don't think I've ever seen anything more ridiculous," another said.

Some suggested he just "fix the fence" and "add mesh" but the man thought it was "cruel" to "block off any visual stimulation for the dogs".

According to Animal Welfare NSW, a dog-proof fence must be tall enough that the animal can't jump over it, have no gaps that they can squeeze through, and be regularly checked for signs of digging underneath.

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