Of those dog attacks, 11 were against people, according to the City of Greater Bendigo.

Jenny Barber was in bushland last Sunday when an unleashed border collie began growling at her. 

Then it came forward and attacked.

She sustained two bite wounds on her legs.

Ms Barber regularly walked and ran in the area and saw people with dogs off their lead, which she did not mind because they were friendly.

Often owners would put their dogs back on leads if they saw someone coming. That was something the owner of the border collie tried to do when he saw Ms Barber.

However she said the owner was not quick enough and the dog attacked, biting her several times.

“(The owner) was very dismissive, he could not get out of there quick enough,” Ms Barber said.

“He said ‘sorry about that, (the dog) doesn’t like strangers’, and then he disappeared off into the bush.”

In speaking out about the attack, Ms Barber wanted to warn others who use the area to be alert for border collies off their leads.

“For me, the thing was that (the owner) clearly knew the dog was aggressive,” she said.

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A spokeswoman for the City of Greater Bendigo said since January 1, 2017 the council had received reports of 70 dog attacks in the municipality.

Of those, 11 attacks were against humans, 22 were on livestock and 37 were on other animals – including domesticated animals.

Overall, 27 attacks were classified as serious.

Parks Victoria area chief ranger Karen Doyle encouraged dog walking in the national park, but said they had to be kept on their leash at all times.

“It is important for dog owners to be considerate of other park visitors, make sure their dog does not bother others, and always clean up after their dog.”

In the municipality more generally, dogs were not required to be leashed in public areas, except for 10 designated “on leash parks”, according to the council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan 2016 – 2021.

They were also required to be on a leash within 10 metres of any public barbeque or outdoor eating area, public children’s play area or business premises.

Dogs were prohibited from the Hargreaves Mall, Crusoe Reservoir and the surface of the QEO (with the exception of assistance dogs and police dogs involved in crime detection).