The number of Queensland pets being surrendered to the RSPCA has dropped by almost a quarter after the charity rolled out a new online tool for struggling owners.
Faced with a multimillion-dollar bill for housing unwanted pets, the RSPCA last year launched an online portal that asks pet owners their animal type and what problem they are having, offering up other solutions before the person decides to surrender their pet.
RSPCA Queensland chief executive officer Mark Townend said it had decreased surrender rates by 22 per cent and saved over $800,000 in animal care costs.
"The results were much more than we expected," Mr Townend told AAP.
"We didn't realise there was such a hole in information."
The portal was developed after customer research revealed that the most common reason for owners surrendering their pets was due to a lack of information when faced with a specific problem.
In the 2015/2016 financial year more than 4,800 pets were surrendered, in comparison to just over 3,800 in 2016/2017.
The charity expects to use the portal to continue to save more animals from shelters in 2018 and will look at selling the software worldwide.
