Toowoomba Regional Council to decommission after-hours drop boxes following community backlash over animal welfare

The Toowoomba Regional Council will scrap its after-hours stray dog and cat drop boxes off the back of community concerns about animal welfare.

Toowoomba’s after-hours dog and cat drop boxes will be shut down as part of major reforms by the council to its animal management centre and practices.

Councillors voted at Wednesday’s committee meetings to adopt a number of changes to how it deals with stray pets and animals, following a review that featured extensive input from the RSPCA.

The changes come nearly 12 months after the RSPCA, animal lovers and community members expressed serious concerns about the drop box system, following a spate of incidents.

In one case, a couple actually broke their dogs out of the pound.

After-hours drop boxes have been slowly phased out across Queensland, with the Ipswich council removing them in 2019.

In the report tabled to council, officers Jason Crowther and Rohan O’Driscoll concluded the system did support the idea that pets could be dumped easily.

“(The drop-boxes) implicitly endorse the notion that animals are disposable and can provide a mechanism for owners to abandon their animals unlawfully,” the report said.

“Wildlife and injured animals may unintentionally or even intentionally be left and council, by providing the facility, becomes the ‘person in charge’ which exposes council to breaching a duty of care if treatment or disease prevention is prolonged or negatively impacts an animal’s welfare.”

The council-run Lost Pets and Animal Management Centre at Drayton, Toowoomba, at 393 Anzac Ave, Drayton. Picture: Google Maps.

When asked by councillors about the TRC’s role on the issue of dogs and pets, Mr O’Driscoll said officers were primarily employed to deal with dangerous animals or emergency situations.

“There are two main pieces of legislation – one is the animal management – the Cats and Dogs Act of 2008 and it is clear council is the lead regulatory body responsible to enforce that,” he said.

“The other act is the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 — we are not the lead role, the state government is, and my understanding is there are funded officers through the RSPCA who take the lead in that act.

“If there’s a dog or cat or animal that’s causing a risk or danger to the community, we have after-hours officers available to attend and take action and that action may be to impound that animal.

“A lost or wandering dog in our view, impounding them is not always the best outcome.”

Mr O’Driscoll said the facilities were also used by residents who wanted to dump a family pet, while some people had even placed dead animals in the drop boxes.

“We do regularly have someone present to the centre to get rid of their animal and we advise them that they can’t do that and it’s not a service council provides and the animal will be in the drop box later that night,” he said.

“That regularly happens – sick and injured animals, we have had deceased animals placed in there with notes saying they found it.”

Other changes recommended by the RSPCA that are either already enacted or to be actioned include new signage at the management centre, more information on the council website and decommissioning of the feral cat infirmary.

Councillor Tim McMahon during a council meeting to discuss the future of Toowoomba City Aerodrome (also know as Toowoomba Airport), Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Councillor Tim McMahon, who was a key spokesman for the organisation when concerns were raised in January, said the move was a “good outcome” for the community.

“I just wanted to thank the staff and community for how well this has been handled,” he said.

“This was brought to council quite intensely at the start of the new year and it did get quite heated for a while there online.

“This is a great outcome that people have been asking for (and) this is a great example of local government being on the front foot.”