Urgent warning after family dog killed by croc: 'Didn't stand a chance'
A Cairns family is pleading for a reportedly huge crocodile to be relocated from a popular park after killing their beloved dog on a morning walk.
Alia Baxter, who said the family has been left "traumatised," was walking the family dog of 11 years on Wednesday at the lower Kamerunga foot bridge, alongside the Barron River, when she was "taken in one bite and dragged into the water."
"Indie was a big 45 kilo Labrador and didn’t stand a chance.. She was bigger than most kids that hang out on the bridge everyday! RIP my beautiful girl," Ms Baxter said in a social media post, according to local media.
However she did admit she was grateful it wasn't her child that was killed, who "stood in the exact same spot so many times before".
Sign placed nearby by family to warn others
Ms Baxter's father, Alan Benn, said he is worried for other children and adults who regularly frequent the spot for fishing and other activities, especially during the holiday period.
“It’s just a matter of time before a real tragedy occurs and a young child goes missing,” he told the Cairns Post. “The problem was that the dog was not in the water, nor was he drinking from the water. We were walking past at the same distance people would stand from the water’s edge.”
To help out how they can, the family has positioned a sign where the incident happened to warn others to "please be careful".
"Will a kid be next?" it reads.
Authorities say they have rehomed crocodile
According to the Cairns Post, a 2.4 metre crocodile has since been found in a trap near where Indie was killed, with a spokesman for the Department of Environment and Science (DES) saying it has been "re-homed in a farm or zoo".
Although the family think it was another, much bigger animal that took their dog, 7News reported.
According to the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, the lower section of the Barron Gorge National Park is known to be home to Estuarine crocodiles. It is encouraged to stay at least five metres from the water's edge and report all croc sightings.
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