FREO MUM SERIOUSLY INJURED BY UNLEASHED DOG

A BEACONSFIELD mother of two is in hospital after she was knocked down by a large dog at Leighton Beach on Sunday.
Speaking from her hospital bed with 12 weeks of rehab ahead of her, former Fremantle council candidate Sally McKay, 51, told StreetWise today: “I’m not great. We’re in crisis mode. I just started a new job and we were supposed to travel to Europe in July.”
Ms McKay who has to use a walking frame to move around said she was talking to friends when suddenly she saw the dog running towards her at full speed.
“The dog’s head hit my hips and took my legs out from underneath me. I heard a crack and knew I’d broken either a rib or my pelvis. I couldn’t move my leg and that’s when my husband called an ambulance.”
Ms McKay was left with five broken ribs, three broken in two places, and a fractured pelvis. She also has an epidural inserted in her spinal cord to ease the extreme pain.
“But I can still feel it, last night was the worst night.”
Ms McKay said the owner of the dog was on the beach with what she believes was two Saint Bernards or leonburgers, stood at a distance and said sorry before leaving soon after.
She described the dogs as shaggy brown with black tips and hoped the owner would come forward.
Ms McKay said she used Leighton Beach at least three times a week, but did not take her own dogs because one of them was aggressive to other dogs.
“So we just leave them at home. If you can’t control your dog, you shouldn’t have it down there. Can you imagine if it took out a child.”
The leash-free beach was packed with dogs which also are allowed on Gilbert Fraser Reserve and South Beach without a leash.
Anyone who was on Leighton Beach on the morning of April 26 are asked to contact the City or police. StreetWise has contacted the City for comment.
Ms McKay is well known for her volunteer work over many years and is a life member of the Hilton Park Junior Cricket Club, as well as first aider and volunteer for Fremantle Dockers Junior Football Club.
She also ran as an East Ward candidate in the 2025 local government elections.
Saint Bernards are credited with saving hundreds of lives in centuries of service as a pathfinder and rescue dog.
The breed is named after Saint Bernard, 11th-century Catholic archdeacon of the Aosta diocese in northwestern Italy on the border with Switzerland.
The breed likely descended from mastiff-like dogs introduced from Asia to Europe by the ancient Romans who used them in their armies.
The leonburger is a German breed whose name derives from the city of Leonburg in Baden-Wurttemberg where it was bred in the mid-19th century.