Animal rescue groups across regional Queensland have put an urgent call out to foster carers, fearing more animals will die after a vital transport service broke down.
Lockyer Valley animal rescuer Cheryl Hicks collects dogs and cats from pounds between Brisbane and Rockhampton every week, delivering them to rescue groups and foster carers.
But her rescue van broke down last month, forcing her to make trips by car.
"Instead of bringing 20 dogs a week I might only be able to bring 10 dogs," she said.
"And instead of 30 cats I might only be able to bring back 15 to 20.
"It means the pounds are holding them for us maybe for another week, but in that other week there are another 20 that are getting dumped at the pound each day."
Cats and dogs 'on euthanasia list'
Ms Hicks works for Rides4Rescues, which saves animals destined for death row, but her transport problems have left animal shelters bursting at the seams.
"We have a list that gets sent out every week as to what's on the euthanasia list and the rescues all come together and we try to save as many as we can," she said.
"A lot of them are just dumped animals that have been trapped in council traps.
"The poor pounds are just getting bombarded each week with animals."
Ms Hicks said foster carers were needed more than ever to reduce the rate of animals being euthanased.
"We just ask people, if they've got time and they've got the space to bring on a dog or a cat, please get in contact with your local rescue groups and help if you can," she said.
"We ask the foster carers to love them and treat them as one of their own and hold them until we can get them adopted."
Rescue groups under pressure
President of the Central Queensland Animal Society, Loz Batley, said the reduced transport service was having a huge flow-on effect and that put extra pressure on existing foster carers.
"We don't want to treat [the pound] like a boarding kennel, because at the end of the day they're not. So we try and get animals into [temporary] care if we can," Ms Batley said.
"The more people who can come on board, honestly, the better.
"It eases the strain for the animal as well, because being in that [pound] environment isn't ideal. It's quite stressful, it's lonely."
Red Collar Rescue founder Sharyn Banks, who runs the shelter at Biggenden, said it was "a major issue" for rescue groups that relied on the service.
"If groups further north can't get them onto transport, they have to either be with a foster carer or they're left behind at the pound in which case the inevitable happens because the councils don't hold dogs," Ms Banks said.
"I'd love for all of us to be obsolete and not have to be worrying about dogs that are dying in pounds week after week."
