Bashing cane toads to death with a golf club is the preferred option for 60 per cent of those polled in a Queensland newspaper, and the RSPCA is not amused.



Only 9 per cent of respondents to a Sunshine Coast Daily poll said they would choose placing the toads in their fridge or freezer - the method sanctioned by their local council and the RSPCA.



The debate over how best to kill the pests has flared ahead of a council-promoted toad killing evening on March 18, aimed at ending the lives of 10,000 cane toads.



The Sunshine Coast Regional Council and the RSPCA said humane ways to kill the creatures include bagging toads and putting them in the fridge.



The cold sends them to sleep and they can then go into the freezer.



Alternatively one or two drops of clove bud oil will put a toad to sleep and ready for a deep freeze.



Sadly there is a shortage of clove bud oil on the coast north of Brisbane because the oil also deters mould and has been much in demand in Queensland's very wet summer which, ironically, has been very kind to the toads.



RSPCA community relations manager Michael Beatty said there was nothing wrong with humanely killing a cane toad.



"We understand the need for the culling of cane toads," Mr Beatty said in a statement.



"We see it as a necessary evil."



But Mr Beatty said the RSPCA is concerned about cruel, unusual and disturbing killing methods.



"We do have problems with people going out to hit them with golf clubs and the like," he said.



"It's inhumane and doesn't teach people the right message about how to treat any animals."



A light-hearted poll in the newspaper showed only 9 per cent of respondents favoured the fridge and freezer, none supported the clove oil solution, while 23 per cent opted for the answer "Mail it off to New Zealand".



The debate has sparked screens full of comments from readers.



AAP