More than 2100 calls to hotline and 16 animal owners charged
Dogs and horses at the heart of most public cruelty complaints to RSPCA Tasmania’s hotline and people continue to leave animals in hot cars despite the warnings. THE REPORT’S SHOCKING FINDINGS >>
Tasmania
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SIXTEEN people were charged with animal cruelty offences in Tasmania last financial year after 2171 calls to the RSPCA’s hotline.
Dogs, puppies and horses were the basis of most of those calls.
RSPCA Tasmania’s annual report for 2019-20 shows the body condition of the animals sparked most of the action from the public along with unsuitable living conditions, not enough food or water and being tethered or confined.
Fifty-nine calls involved hot animals locked in vehicles despite numerous warnings from animal cruelty organisations and veterinarians about the dangerous of leaving animals in cars.
The RSPCA issued 169 instruction notices, three infringement notices, 1299 warnings and charged 16 people regarding neglected or abused animals.
Ten of those cases were prosecuted last financial year and another six cases are pending in the courts.
Forty calls to the hotline involved animals on farms, reptile parks or Tasmanian zoos and 54 regarded wildlife.
RSPCA Tasmania CEO Jan Davis said the year had been “incredibly busy” and there were times during the COVID-19 pandemic the organisation feared it could not continue to serve the animals depending on its care and protection.
“However, we’ve worked hard to adapt and evolve in ways we couldn’t have imagined 12 months ago. And, despite all these challenges, we’re proud to say that we came out of this year a stronger organisation,” Ms Davis said.
“One of the highlights was seeing our shelter emptied, as people sought furry friends to provide companionship during pandemic restrictions.
“Social isolation restrictions meant big changes for our adoption centres. We had to either move our key fundraising events into the virtual world or put them on hold.”
The RSPCA also took care of animals coming off the Spirit of Tasmania ferries during the health emergency and when people in quarantine could not care for their pets.
“During 2019-2020, we cared for more than 1000 animals, including cats, dogs, poultry and pocket pets like bunnies, guinea pigs, rats and mice. Our inspectors were busy too, attending to more than 2000 calls to our cruelty hotline,” she said.
IN NUMBERS
During 2019-20 RSPCA Tasmania cared for:
103 dogs and 876 cats in their shelters.
A live release rate – to new homes or original owners – of 82 per cent was recorded.
There were 2171 calls to the Animal Cruelty Hotline.
Reasons for calls:
body condition – 806
unsuitable living conditions – 632
not enough food or water – 662
no veterinary treatment – 444
no shelter – 298
abandoned – 260
cruelty – 268
tethered or confined animals – 215
hot animal in a vehicle – 59
Calls by animal:
puppies – 193
horses – 510,
cats – 377
sheep – 482
poultry and birds – 294
cattle – 303
goats – 103
pigs – 50
animals on farms or in zoos – 40
wildlife – 54.
People charged: 16. Prosecutions, 10, six cases pending.
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