Each time Tanya Wooley brings a new cat or dog into her home, they become part of the family.
For five years, she has been offering temporary foster care in central Queensland to help people keep their animals during hardships or housing stress.
"You always start to think that [the] pet is going to forget about their owner or I'm going to feel so sad when they go because they're like my pet now," she said.
Unfortunately, those joyful moments are now few and far between.
Ms Wooley has been forced to suspend her charity's foster care services due to increased waits for housing.
Community housing waiting lists in the region have blown out beyond 12 weeks and rental vacancy rates are at record lows.
While Queensland rental reforms have removed the landlord's automatic refusal of pets, the law does not come into force until October.
Until then, owners unable to find appropriate housing have no option but to re-home their pets.
'It feels like we've let them down'
Ms Wooley, from Rockhampton, started People 4 Pets after struggling to find temporary accommodation with her pets when her home was flooded.
Her goal was to help people experiencing temporary crises like natural disasters, fleeing abusive relationships, or those sleeping rough by offering 12-week foster placements.
A time frame was based on predicted waiting times for social housing when the charity started in 2017.
That "worked really well" until the COVID pandemic when waiting times for accommodation surpassed unworkable levels.
Ms Wooley has been caring for two cats, Rusty and Matilda, for 18 months while their owner moves between caravan parks trying to find a permanent home.
"That is a toll on us as carers knowing that at the end of your care period, that animal's not actually going home to their owner … it feels like we've let them down."
Ms Wooley said sometimes people had "looked down" on the owners for not planning better, but in most cases the circumstances were out of their control due to job loss or rising living costs.
"We have never encountered more loved animals than we have in this rescue [charity]," Ms Wooley said.
"Obviously, if there's more housing available all these pets could go home.
"But at the moment 80 per cent of the pets that we're temporarily caring for will need to be adopted out because the owners aren't getting suitable housing within a reasonable time frame."
Pet requests considered
Ms Wooley, who also owns two rental homes, said she prioritised tenants with pets.
"We've never had any issues, and probably had issues with children more than pets," she said.
Although not every property owner will welcome the changes from October, Queensland landlords will not be able to automatically reject applications from pet owners.
Residential Tenancies Authority customer experience manager Sam Galer said the change would end "no pets allowed" statements in advertisements and allow tenants to negotiate with landlords.
Renters still need to ask for permission to keep a pet, but the request will be considered approved if there is no response within 14 days.
Requests can also only be rejected on "identified reasonable grounds", but those details have not yet been released.
Mr Galer said tenants would be responsible for any damage to the property caused by their animal but could not be asked for a separate "animal bond".
"Saying 'you can have a pet, but I'm going to increase the rent, or charge a pet bond' … is not allowed under this legislation," he said.
In a statement, the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy said the $2.9 billion Queensland Housing and Homelessness Action Plan included $1 billion to boost housing supply and an increase in housing and homelessness supports.
"The Queensland Housing Investment Growth Initiative is a key component of the action plan and will see 7,400 new social homes commenced by 30 June 2025," the department said.
