Family’s shock after off-leash dog confrontation ends in alleged racist tirade in Sydney’s Croydon Park

A five-year-old girl has been reduced to tears after a man allegedly told her family to “go back to China” during a confrontation over three off-leash dogs in Sydney’s inner west.

The girl — who was born and raised in Australia — was riding her bike with her parents at Cooks River Bike Path in Croydon Park about 2.30pm on Saturday when a man allegedly hurled the racist remarks after they asked him to leash his dogs.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Alleged racist abuse over off-leash dogs

Her mother, Jean He, said the girl later cried while recounting the incident to her kindergarten teacher and had repeatedly said she wanted to forget what happened.

He, a 37-year-old Chinese Australian business owner, told 7NEWS.com.au the confrontation began when one of the man’s dogs ran towards her daughter after crossing the road, sniffing the toys in her bicycle basket and the unicorn horn attached to the handlebars.

“My daughter was a bit scared seeing such a big dog coming close to her, and was trying to move away,” she said.

“When the dog owner saw his dog beside my daughter, instead of calling it back, he told her, ‘Don’t press the horn, and don’t play with the toy in front of the dog.’”

He said her husband asked the man to put his dogs on a leash, prompting an alleged tirade of abuse.

“He started swearing at us, including our five-year-old daughter. That’s when we started recording the video because we were scared something worse could happen,” He said.

He said the man repeatedly claimed he had lived in the area for years and that no one had ever had a problem with him walking his dogs off leash.

In the video, the man can be heard saying he does not want to be filmed, telling the family “you’re causing a problem”, “you can go f*** off”, “go back to China”, and “go back to your prison”.

The man eventually walked away with his three dogs, carrying one in his arms.

Having lived in Australia for 14 years, He said she and her husband — both Australian citizens — were shocked by the encounter and feared for their daughter’s safety.

“We have never met anyone like this before,” she said. 

“The dog owner apparently didn’t care about his dog’s safety or my child’s. He swore in front of my daughter, who we’ve always taught not to use those kinds of words because they’re rude.”

He said her daughter had since asked why the man had told them to “go back to China”.

“She was born here. She hasn’t developed any concept of race yet and has always been proud of her Chinese background and being able to speak Mandarin,” she said.

“It was the first time she had ever been targeted because of her background.”

The girl’s kindergarten teacher told He that her daughter cried while describing the encounter and suggested the family speak with the school’s counsellor.

He said the family later reported the incident to Canterbury-Bankstown Council and were still waiting for a response.

7NEWS.com.au has contacted Canterbury-Bankstown Council for comment.

Anti-Discrimination NSW said it was unable to comment on the alleged incident.

However, an Anti-Discrimination NSW spokesperson said race discrimination and racial vilification were among the most common issues raised with the service. 

In 2024-2025, the agency received 303 race discrimination complaints and 76 racial vilification complaints.

The spokesperson encouraged anyone who experiences discrimination or vilification in NSW to contact the service for free, confidential information and assistance.