Barking mad: Pin pulled on Fed Square paw patrol that warded off flying chip thieves

The popular Seagull Patrol dogs that protect diners from flying chip thieves in Federation Square are set to finish up, and that has feathers ruffled.

A rotating team of dogs has been working in the square daily from 11am to 3pm during a six-month Seagull Patrol trial, stopping gluttonous gulls from being chip-swipers, food-pecking nuisances and tourist-swooping irritants. The same program operates at the Sydney Opera House.

The company that runs the patrol, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, was told recently that the trial would not be extended and would end on June 17.

People power is now kicking off in the hope of getting the decision reversed. A change.org petition was launched this week by Jules Galloway, owner of Harry, a border collie-kelpie cross who has been working at Fed Square as a Seagull Patrol dog.

“I suspect he spends half his time chasing seagulls and the other half of the time getting belly rubs, because whenever we see photos, he’s on his back,” Galloway said.

She said she had personal experience of anti-social seagull behaviour prior to the launch of the dog patrols.

“It was mid-2025 and I was sitting in Fed Square eating sushi rolls and three seagulls came for my lunch.

“It felt like a co-ordinated attack. One went for the sushi roll that I was lifting up to my mouth. I got a wing to the face, and two other birds went for the roll that was still sitting in the box. I’m not scared of birds, but I was rattled.”

Galloway hopes a swell of public support could get the dogs back on the books.

“This is not just about keeping my dog in a job. He doesn’t get paid, he just loves it, but his handlers are going to be out of work,” she said.

Mad Dogs & Englishmen boss James Webb, whose Sydney-based company was approached last year to be involved in the trial, said he was surprised the six-month contract wouldn’t be renewed.

“I did try to encourage them to continue because of how effective the dogs have been over the last six months and how good the service is that they provide,” Webb said.

The Melbourne Arts Precinct, which manages Federation Square, said the Seagull Patrol was a temporary initiative but did not rule out the program restarting in the warmer months.

“We will be taking a pause over the wetter months when fewer people are dining outside. We’re glad to see people share the same affection for the patrol dogs as we do, and we hope to see the program return in the future,” a spokesperson said.

Preselections making news for Labor

After the Essendon preselection muddle – in which what was supposed to be a simple parachute-in of a preferred candidate turned messy when Labor branch members arced up wanting a genuine say in the process – no doubt the party was hoping that anointing a candidate for the seat of Macedon would be far more straightforward.

While the battle for Essendon was eventually resolved by the Labor national executive intervening and picking preferred candidate and Merri-bek councillor Katerine Theodosis, Macedon is still in play.

After current member Mary-Anne Thomas announced in April that she would not recontest the seat in this year’s state election, it was tipped that accomplished bureaucrat Lisa Ohlmus was likely to get the nod.

But Ohlmus, whose experience includes being policy and government relations manager for VicHealth and prior to that a senior policy adviser for the health minister and the regional development minister, has ruled herself out of the race.

“I initially nominated to be the ALP candidate for the seat of Macedon. I have withdrawn my nomination to prioritise the needs of my family,” she told CBD late last week.

So it is back to the drawing board for Labor. CBD checked in with the party’s state secretary, Steve Staikos, to get his thoughts on who might be in the running for the seat, but did not get far.

“We don’t comment on internal preselection processes until they have concluded, and we are ready to announce our candidates,” Staikos said.

Al Muderis faces mounting costs

The stakes for disgraced celebrity surgeon Munjed Al Muderis heading into his appeal next week of the loss of his marathon defamation case against Nine, owner of The Age, were already high. And that’s before considering the costs associated with the matter.

About six weeks ago, the stakes rose further. In a judgment published on April 23, Justice Wendy Abraham ordered Al Muderis to pay Nine’s costs for the defamation suit, assessed on an indemnity basis from the start of the hearing, payable on a lump sum basis. Al Muderis could also have to stump up for Nine’s costs application.

But the surgeon successfully applied to have the indemnity costs order paused until the defamation appeal is decided. His lawyer Nicholas Pullen told CBD the indemnity costs order is also the subject of an application to appeal.

That’s not all of it, though. Just this week, Abraham ordered Al Murderis to partially pay the costs of a witness in the matter, Mitch Grant.

In Tuesday’s judgment, the court ordered that Al Muderis pay the costs of and incidental to the preparation of evidence and submissions between December 18, 2023, and February 2, 2024, after Al Muderis’ legal team successfully got the court to issue a subpoena for the production of documents.

This week’s judgment also ordered Al Muderis to pay half of Grant’s costs for a March 7 hearing, along with those related to the current application, and the witness’s reasonable costs or expenses of complying with the subpoena.

“As you are no doubt aware, the appeal hearing for the final judgement that underpins the [two] judgements you refer to begins next week,” Pullen told CBD in response to a request for comment on Wednesday.

“I also note … the 23 April judgement where the application by Dr Al Muderis to stay the indemnity costs order until further order, was successful. Further, the indemnity costs judgement is currently subject to an application for leave to appeal, and [Tuesday’s] Grant judgement is still being reviewed.”

Still, the stakes are high for Al Muderis heading into the appeal, which is set to kick off in the Federal Court next Tuesday. It comes after he lost his defamation case against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes in August last year, over a series of reports published in late 2022 alleging he had performed negligent surgery.

As this masthead reported at the time, Abraham found Nine had established contextual truth and public interest defences, defeating Al Muderis’ defamation suit.

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