Reminder to report wandering livestock

Published on 19 October 2020

Rockhampton Regional Council is reminding livestock owners to ensure their fences and enclosures are up to standard to prevent animals from wandering onto public roadways.

Planning and Regulatory Councillor Ellen Smith said a scary incident reported on social media this week saw a car hit two cows wandering on the road at Pink Lily.

“When you see the post and the complete destruction of the vehicle, it’s lucky to read that the driver wasn’t killed,” Cr Smith said.

“If you imagine driving along at any sort of speed and a large animal suddenly steps out in front of your car, there is a genuine danger to people’s safety and lives.

“Following this incident, I’d really like to encourage the livestock owners in our region to make sure their fences and enclosures are in good condition and can contain their animals.

“If anyone sees livestock wandering on the road or the side of it, please contact Council immediately so we can get our stock patrol out there to muster and contain the animals.

“If there is an accident, it’s also important that someone calls Council when they can just to let us know so that we can follow up at our end.

“We see a lot of people posting on Facebook groups and that is fine, but I don’t think anyone wants to see an accident that could be easily avoided if they called us as well,” Cr Smith said.

Reports of wandering livestock can be phoned through to Council on 1300 22 55 77. If the call is after hours, please hold and it will go through to an operator who can contact stock patrol.