A Tasmanian cat welfare organisation says illegal rubbish dumping at its Margate op-shop is costing up to $30,000 a year.
Ten Lives Cat Centre says the store on the Channel Highway has been subject to regular overnight dumping for the past year.
CEO Noel Hunt said some of the rubbish allegedly left at the site was intended as donations.
“Some of the rubbish being dumped is supposed donations to our shop,” he said.
Hunt said thieves then allegedly raided the dumped items, taking anything of value and scattering the rest.
“Then thieves raid the dumped rubbish and steal anything half good – and chuck rubbish all over the place,” he said.
People were also allegedly dumping during business hours without checking whether staff wanted the items.
“They don’t have the decency to come into the store and ask if we want their junk,” Hunt said.
“Our volunteers, many of them elderly, have to clean up and lift all this stuff into skip bins.”
“They are very stressed, upset and put under unreasonable physical demands.”
The organisation has been forced to install a third three-metre skip bin at the site to deal with the amount of rubbish.
Hunt said the dumping was costing between $25,000 and $30,000 a year at Margate alone.
“We have had to spend thousands of dollars on security gear,” he said.
“This is money that should be spent on our cats. The reason we exist.”
Ten Lives is now urging the community to help identify those responsible.
“We have had enough. We want the community to support us and dob in dumpers,” Hunt said.
“We are reporting to police including providing video evidence of dumpers and their number plates.“
