As the sun begins to take the chill out of the morning air, a litter of puppies emerges from its den of building materials on a vacant block of land.
They are still young enough to feed from their mother's teat, but they sleep outside among pallets and insulation.
Soon the puppies disperse onto the streets, disappearing among dozens of other dogs that roam without boundary across Kowanyama, a remote Indigenous township in Queensland's far north.
In this town, roving dog packs are normal.
The western Cape York community has a problem with loose dogs.
They fight, they breed uncontrollably, they attack other animals and sometimes, they turn their attention on humans.
"We're supposed to love them," says Samuel 'Sinker' Hudson, Kowanyama's animal control officer.
"Not just get them as a pup, make them big and then let them walk around and not want them no more because they're not cute."
Mr Hudson is part of a small team of people trying to change the way locals care for their animals in Kowanyama.
And he has a big job on his hands.
Overcoming unchecked breeding
There are 455 dogs registered with Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council, about one for every 2.5 people in the community.
It's not known how many unregistered dogs there are, and unchecked breeding is an issue.
Innisfail-based veterinarian Zane Squarci covers the 500 kilometres separating the two towns every three months to treat and desex pets, staying between three and five days each time.
"I think I've desexed about 100 dogs this year so far," Dr Squarci says.
"But they're breeding quite rapidly so the rate that they're breeding versus the rate I'm desexing them is definitely the biggest challenge."
Things are beginning to change in the community, though.
Mr Hudson, Dr Squarci and the others who help them are slowly but surely rounding up the town's dogs and treating diseases and parasites that can threaten both canines and humans.
"With the efforts of our desexing, treating them for worms and ticks and mange and all that sort of stuff, the majority of the population is healthy," Dr Squarci says.
"The life expectancy of those dogs is definitely going up.
"Thankfully, with the hard work that we've put in, we now have a waiting list of people wanting to have their dogs desexed."
'There's a lot of mistrust'
The successes on display in Kowanyama are music to the ears of Brad Milligan, the manager of Environmental Health for the Queensland government's Tropical Public Health Service (TPHS).
"Improved animal health translates into improved human health due to the close proximity and living arrangements between Indigenous people and their animals," Mr Milligan says.
Queensland's health department provides funding to remote Indigenous council areas for public health measures, including animal management.
Mr Milligan admits it's a challenging issue.
"There are strong cultural beliefs with dogs in Aboriginal communities," he says.
"There's a lot of mistrust (because) people have gone into communities in the past and taken dogs off them because they think they're not looking after them."
Countering that mistrust requires people like Mr Hudson, who the community knows and respects.
"I do it for the animals, to make them healthy," Mr Hudson says.
"They can't go to the shop and say, 'Can I have a packet of tablets to get myself wormed?' or 'I'm hungry and I need water', we've got to do that.
"That's why I try teach this mob around town. They're getting the hang of it now, they're getting pretty good."
More dogs behind fences
Improving the health of Kowanyama's dog population and slowing down breeding presents the community with its next challenge — keeping animals behind gates and fences.
"Just shut the gate — that's what I want," Mr Hudsonsays.
"So people can walk around the town not worrying about walking down the road and getting bitten."
Dr Squarci says Mr Hudson's efforts within the community are securing more dogs behind fences, but better facilities are needed to help pet owners succeed.
"Their fences aren't tall enough, their yards aren't big enough, and those are the things that make keeping a large dog contained quite difficult," Dr Squarci says.
"At the end of the day, the people of Kowanyama want to have their dogs for as long as they can, just like everyone else.
"They love their pets, and they're pets that they really take care of once we show them what's required and what they need to do."
The Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council is funding a fence repair program for residential homes across the community.
