Delays in hearing animal cruelty cases are draining the RSPCA's already limited funds, tying up valuable kennel space, and preventing the charity from helping other animals.
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The RSPCA looks after neglected or abused pets when it is involved in court cases against their owners, covering their board, vet bills, feeding and other costs at least until prosecution is finalised.
But the charity says the costs of continual delays to animal cruelty matters, some of which stretch past 12 months, are hitting it hard.
Chief executive officer Tammy Ven Dange said she has approached government on the issue, while also meeting with the Director of Public Prosecutions and lobbying them to do what they can to drive efficiency in such cases.
Under current ACT law, the RSPCA can't re-home the animal until a conviction is made, unless they have the consent of the owner being prosecuted.
"People don't realise, if we have an animal for a year, depending on the medical issues, it might cost us $10,000 to $20,000 for one animal," Ms Ven Dange said.
"It just eats through our budget like people don't believe.
"But we're not just going to let them go and let them off the hook because we can't afford it."
The RSPCA has recently ramped up the numbers of animal cruelty cases it investigates, and is involved in about 20 currently before the ACT's courts.
Its two-member inspectorate team conducts interviews, obtains photographic evidence, does inspections, and obtains expert veterinarian advice, before compiling a brief and handing it over to prosecutors to take through court.
The amount of dog kennel space it devotes to "court holds" while cases slowly make their way through the courts also comes at a cost for the community.
Ms Ven Dange said it prevents the RSPCA from taking on other dogs, and is likely to see adoption numbers suffer.
"When you have a whole row of kennels full of inspector animals that are stuck for ages, you can't re-home any animals into those spaces," she said.
"If our adoption numbers go down in this financial year for dogs, it's going to be because of this specifically."
She said she doesn't blame anyone stuck in the process, and said the Director of Public Prosecutions has acted to speed up the first mentions of such cases in the ACT Magistrates Court.
But Ms Ven Dange said defendants were often able to repeatedly delay cases to obtain legal advice, something she said was frustrating.
"All they do is drag the cases out, and their poor animals suffering in the meantime," she said.
"They probably don't care because they were suffering already, that's why we took them away from them."
Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the government took court delays seriously, and said it has taken steps to reduce lag times more generally.
Mr Corbell said the measures, including procedural improvements, government support, and legislative reform, have helped bring down delays.
The RSPCA is also concerned that defendants being acquitted of animal cruelty charges on mental health grounds are avoiding restrictions on pet ownership, and can take on other animals as soon as the case is finalised.
"It doesn't change the fact that that animal has been hurt from that process of them not being in the right state, and who says that they're going to be in that right state to take care of them in the future," Ms Ven Dange said.
