Albion Park resident Jackie Gades is urging people to be vigilant during the festive season and ahead of Australia Day after a dog was hit by a train and three dogs were reportedly hit by cars on New Year's Eve.
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A dog died when it was hit by a train near Coledale station and three others died from car collisions after running away scared of the fireworks.
"It was a large dog and it ran straight to the train in terror because it was petrified," Mrs Gades said.
"My husband is a train driver and a colleague of his witnessed it run for the train."
The self professed animal-lover runs the "Lost, Found & Free Animals/Birds Illawarra" Facebook group.
She said there was a spike of posts over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
"We had 120 new members just in those two days," she said.
Facebook posts indicated a small white dog was hit by a car and died at Koonawarra, a white and tan male dog was found in Albion Park Rail and another was hit by two cars near Campbelltown.
"The young girl who hit it is beside herself ... they have moved it off the road and a bloke had a sheet to cover it," Sharon Dunn posted on Facebook, regarding the incident at Koonawarra.
Mrs Gades said she became involved in the lost and found Facebook group after her colleague's dog, Dima, went missing during the 2012 New Year's Eve fireworks.
"When I heard the heartache of what this family was going through, I started getting involved," she said.
"Dima dug herself out of the backyard and has never been seen since.
"She's microchipped and they did all the right things."
Mrs Gades warned both dog owners and the public to be vigilant and pick up dogs on the street and hand them into the RSPCA or a vet.
With Australia Day approaching, more fireworks could cause havoc.
"They run around crazy when they're scared, they've got no road sense," she said.
"You've got to keep your dog inside, locked up in the house and stay with them if possible.
"Just being with their owners can calm them down."
She said medication is available to calm them if they are scared.
