Dead Dog Creek - Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Dead Dog Creek - Adelaide Botanic Gardens

In 1868, Benjamin Ellis served as a dog‑catcher for the Corporation of Adelaide. His job was simple and brutal: he was authorised to shoot any unlicensed dog found within the city boundaries and dispose of the bodies as required under the Act. Ellis, however, took a rather questionable approach to the “disposal” part of his duties.

Rather than burying the dogs — as the law clearly required — Ellis began dumping the carcasses beneath a small bridge in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The bridge crossed a creek near the rear entrance of the gardens and was frequently used by the public. Before long, the stench became overwhelming, and complaints poured into the Botanic Gardens office.

Dr Richard Schomburgk, Director of the Botanic Gardens, inspected the site and found thirteen dead dogs rotting beneath the bridge. Outraged, he wrote immediately to the Corporation, demanding the nuisance be removed.

The Adelaide Observer of 11 April 1868 reported the exchange:

“From Dr Schomburgk, stating that the person employed by the Corporation for killing dogs threw the carcases in the creek below the Botanic Garden… requesting that the nuisance might be removed.”

Ellis replied, admitting that “some dogs had been thrown there,” but claimed he had removed them after receiving the complaint.

His Worship reminded the Council that the Act required carcasses to be buried, not dumped. Councillor Sundry stated Ellis deserved “severe censure,” while Councillor Bundey suggested Ellis might be prosecuted for obtaining money under false pretences, as he had been paid fees only after declaring the dogs were properly buried.

The Town Clerk confirmed Ellis had indeed received fees upon making such declarations. Bundey warned that if the matter came before Council again, he would push for prosecution. His Worship noted that the fee was payable only upon a declaration “to satisfy a Justice of the Peace,” meaning Ellis could be charged with perjury if he knowingly lied.

The Council resolved that no fees would be paid without certification from a Justice of the Peace — a direct response to Ellis’s misconduct. An intriguing twist to this story is that a man named Benjamin Ellis, during this same period, also served as the hangman at Adelaide Gaol — a figure now rumoured to haunt the site. Whether the dog‑catcher and the hangman were the same man is still debated, but the overlap in name, era, and reputation certainly adds a macabre edge to Adelaide’s colonial history.

©2015 - Allen Tiller