An Australian Coroner has brought an end to a 32-year case that has attracted attention from all corners of the globe — declaring that yes, a baby who disappeared in 1980 was taken from her parents by a dingo.
Many Australians initially did not believe that a dingo was strong enough to take away the baby. Public opinion swayed harshly against the couple and some even spat on her mother Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and howled like dingoes outside her house.
In 1982, Chamberlain-Creighton was jailed for three years over her daughter’s death before she was later cleared. She has always maintained that a wild dog took her baby.
Today, coroner Elizabeth Morris said she was satisfied evidence from the case proved a dingo or dingoes were responsible for nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain ‘s death.
“Azaria Chamberlain died at Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock, on the 17th of August 1980. The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo. It is obvious, not just from these findings but from other injuries and deaths since, dingoes can and do cause harm to humans,” Morris said while delivering her ruling.
No similar dingo attack had been documented at the time, but in recent years the wild dogs have been blamed for three fatal attacks on children.
Outside the court, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton said she was relieved and delighted to come to the end of the saga and said the ruling set a new precedent.
“No longer will Australia be able to say that dingoes are not dangerous and only attack if provoked. We live in a beautiful country but it is dangerous and we would ask all Australians to be aware of this and take appropriate precautions and not wait for somebody else to do it for them,” she said.
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