A dog owner has been slapped with a $238 fine after his dog licked a baby at an off-lead beach on the weekend.

Journalist and dog owner Neil McMahon told Neil Mitchell he took his seven-month-old Staffy to the off-leash dog beach in Port Melbourne, where there was a baby was lying on a blanket on the ground.

“My dog ran over and gave the baby a bit of a lick,” Neil said.

The baby’s mother was “distraught” and called Triple Zero, the evening ending with Neil being interrogated by police and handed a $238 fine.

It’s prompted Neil Mitchell to ask if should children be banned from off-leash areas.

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