To kill or not to kill: RSPCA calls for end to ‘inhumane’ cane toad deaths

The RSPCA has urged Aussoes not to harm cane toads claiming it’s inhumane to end their lives.

In a submission to the Federal Government’s inquiry into controlling the spread of the creatures, the animal welfare organisation said the actions taken by some, especially in Far North Queensland, to kill the toads are “problematic”.

The measures including using golf clubs to belt the toads to death and poisoning them with chemicals such as Dettol were considered by the RSPCA as painful and distressing to the toads, that are often referred to as pests.

Instead, RSPCA Chief Executive Heather Neil suggested an alternative method that would see the adult cane toads survive and their offspring killed.

This would involve trapping tadpoles with a chemical attractant and then killing them via cooling and freezing, using a suppression pheromone on eggs or boosting native species predation of tadpoles.

“From an animal welfare perspective, there are less risks associated with eliminating pre-adult stages. Furthermore, these approaches are likely to be more cost effective and sustainable with fewer negative environmental impacts,” Neil said in the submission.

Neil added that the alternative method would see less toads subject to undue pain, potentially mitigating animal welfare risks.

“It is essential to consider that even though cane toads are considered a major pest and repulse most people, they are sentient animals and their welfare must be considered,” she said in the submission.

Cane toads were first brought to Australia from South America in 1935 as a means of controlling insect and beetle numbers on sugar farms before the use of agriculture chemicals became widespread. However, their numbers soon grew beyond control and they are know considered a pest throughout much of Australia.

Neil’s comments are in stark contrast to the feelings of many Australians who are known to deliberately swerve their cars to flatten cane toads hopping across the road. The RSPCA submission follows a controversial statement made by Bob Katter earlier this year, who claimed children should be armed with low-powered air rifles to help kill cane toads, which are problematic in his central Queensland electorate.

The Aussie MP claimed that giving kids rifles – which he insisted wouldn’t have enough power to do any real harm to other people – would keep them busy and help them earn some pocket money. The $2 million proposal would see each child given a 40-cent reward for every toad they killed.

Speaking to reporters in Townsville at the time, and filmed on camera by Nine News, Katter said: “The kids will be doing something useful by protecting our natural wonderland.”

He added: “It’ll give a bit of fun for our kids and a bit of pocket money for them as well.”

Read more: ‘A bit of fun’: Bob Katter says kids should be given rifles to kill cane toads

Asked if it’s appropriate to give children rifles, Katter reportedly insisted that they would be low-powered enough to not pose any other real threat.

“Some of my friends have tried to hurt people but that’s not going to happen – they’re pretty harmless,” he added.

Katter wasn’t the only one to weigh in on the cane toad debate with Pauline Hanson previously suggesting a three-month long “collect-a-toad” campaign to “eradicate the pest species”.

And, according to the Courier Mail, the One Nation leader would like to see job seekers in receipt of Work for the Dole payments also take part in a “worthwhile” scheme.

“I would also encourage you to introduce a three-month bounty over summer months to help reduce the breeding numbers,” Hanson is said to have written in a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“A 10-cent reward for the collection of each cane toad … would encourage most Australians living with the pest to take an active role in reducing their numbers until a biological measure is developed.”

Do you agree or disagree with the RSPCA’s suggestion? Would you like to see more cane toads killed?