Moyne Shire mayor asks people to keep dogs off Port Fairy's Griffiths Island

The island is a conservation reserve supporting a fragile native ecosystem, but its location less than a kilometre from the centre of Port Fairy makes it extremely popular for tourists and locals. And while walkers pose no problem, when they take their canine companions it can create complications for the local fauna.

Shire ranger Crystal Bell said the nesting shearwaters and swamp wallabies were most at risk.

"The wallabies are pretty defenceless against most dogs, and they've already got enough to worry about with the foxes that are out there," Ms Bell said.

"We're also just coming up to the shearwater chicks hatching, so they're vulnerable right now."

It's just eight months since more than 50 shearwaters were discovered dead on Griffiths Island, a mystery the authorities never unravelled, and which mayor Karen Foster said had put a long term dint in the local population.

Cr Foster said there was no excuse for holiday-makers taking dogs onto the island, but she was "particularly disappointed" to hear of locals flouting the ban.

"I really urge people to be considerate. It's such a fragile environment and there are plenty of other places to walk your dog," she said.

Ms Bell said she had never fielded so many complaints about dogs on the island, and she had personally caught half a dozen brazen offenders in the past week.

"I've sat here at the entrance to the island in my ute and watched people come with their dogs, stop and read the 'no dogs' signs, and go straight on in," she said.

"There are six signs at the entrance alone saying dogs are banned, and a seventh 50 metres away. I think we are going to have to start fining people, because they're just ignoring the rules."

Ms Bell said she wasn't aware of any attacks on wildlife so far this summer, but rangers had found dead animals bearing the hallmarks of dog bites in recent years and she didn't want a repeat.

Dogs were also a source of controversy in 2021 when the council considered purging pooches from central Port Fairy during business hours throughout the peak tourist season from Christmas to Easter.

The proposal prompted an unprecedented outcry from locals and visitors, with the council receiving 500 submissions and a 1500-person petition, with many regular holiday-makers saying they would never return if the ban became law.

It was voted down six votes to one.