Uncaring acts ruin festivities

THE Christmas season is a joyous time for families to come together and celebrate the good things of North Queensland life. Unfortunately, as we report in today’s

it is often also a time when the worst of human traits come to the fore.

The disgraceful actions of thieves who raided the charity bins at the Lifeline Superstore at Garbutt are a real disappointment for the community and especially those people who dedicate their lives to helping the less fortunate.

Hundreds of donated items, heaped up next to the bins during the extended closure over the Christmas weekend, were strewn around the area.

It is not uncommon for battling families to help themselves to donations at charity bins but the fact food scraps were also thrown in with donations suggests the perpetrator had malicious intent.

Contaminating the donations left for Townsville’s needy means the Lifeline staff will have to dump everything.

As business manager Frank Costa said, the criminals who did this probably stole a few choice items, then decided it would be fun to vandalise and destroy as much of the remaining goods as possible.

Also of great concern are reports from the RSPCA animal shelter that pet owners are dropping off their cats and dogs and claiming they are strays.

This low act allows irresponsible pet owners to avoid the queue for surrendering their animals.

The result is overworked and overstuffed animal shelters are left to deal with problems local people refuse to take responsibility for.

There is no doubt many people in our community are doing it tough and it is hoped 2018 promises better days ahead.

But a culture of irresponsibility, where petty crime, vandalism and opportunistic acts are commonplace among a certain element, is intolerable in our community.

Struggling families should be accessing the myriad support services available in our community. Instead, Townsville’s needy have now been denied vital donations because of mindless thieves.