11. Only the Strictest Rules Apply: Investigating Regulation Compliance of Beaches to Minimize Invasive Dog Impacts on Threatened Shorebird Populations

In many countries domesticated dogs occur abundantly on coasts, where they may co-occur with and pose a threat to coastal wildlife such as threatened shorebirds. Dogs on beaches fit the ecological definition of invasive species. The management of dogs on coasts is controversial, with polarised debate surrounding dog access to public open spaces, and questions around the effectiveness of prevailing dog management regulations. We examined the levels of compliance with dog regulations (3516 checks, 69 ocean beaches) under six prevailing management regimes in Victoria, Australia. Compliance was low to moderate across all dog management ‘types’, but varied significantly. The highest compliance rates were associated with ‘no dog’ areas. Despite poor overall compliance, dog regulations appeared to be associated with different rates of occurrence and relative abundances of dogs, suggesting either they effectively displaced dog walkers or that dog area designations reflect usage patterns, or both.