Annie Ivermee’s said Ararat Rural City Council had failed to keep the grass next to her Campbell Street property under control, which led to her 10-year-old staffie Jazz’s death.

“I have got two sons and my cousins and friends were here, we were all just devastated,” she said.

“I have got grand daughters who love the dogs.

“The whole creek is infested with snakes, kids play down there and you can’t even see the tracks because they are covered in grass.”

Ms Ivermee said the land next to her property was just one area across the district where grass had grown out of control.

“Nothing will change the council until every single person in Ararat has had a gutful, then something might be done,” she said.

“Years ago they used to burn the creek, burn all down there every year and we never had any problems with snakes.”

Ararat mayor Paul Hooper said the extra grass growth across the district was unusual and had been created by heavy rain last year.

“With the winter that we have had, with the benefit of hindsight, we probably should have programmed more resources into grass cutting,” he said.

“I am aware that grass is a significant issue and the growth is something we are not used to. In a year like we had last year, we all could have anticipated there was going to be more grass.”

Much of the overgrown land across the Ararat district is not owned by council.

This has further complicated efforts by ratepayers to request a clean-up near their property.

The land next to Ms Ivermee’s property on Campbell Street is at the entrance to the Ararat velodrome and under lease.

Cr Hooper also said a lot of the land was either privately owned or owned by the state government.

“There is certainly large parts of crown land that has grass on it,” he said.

“Quite a number of complaints have centered around land that is not in council control.”