COM 0022.073 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the Police Department. Presumably, thi organization would also operate an undefined "spay/neuter clinic", funded by the pro osed massive increase in license fees and fines. Island hunters remain wary of the HIH , an affiliate of the Hurnane Society of the United States, one of the most rabid anti huntin organizations in the country. A past HIHS director cited the parent organization's olicy in a short lived prohibition on dog adoption to local hunters a couple of years ago. I was rescinded only under threat of a discrimination lawsuit and loss of count funding. We should mention the supporting cast hich includes Mary, the Keaau Kat Lady, who feeds the multitudes of feral cats that re ide at the Keaau Transfer Station, which is located immediately adjacent to the Ha aii Island Humane Society. Is there something fishy there, or is it just the cat food? ~ In the background of all this hubbub is t e County Council, preoccupied in their internecine battle to grab the seat of po er. They continue sharpening their knives, using this and other issues to appeal to their v rious support bases. And finally, there's the public, split do ~n the middle by geography and lifestyle. City folk are atmoyed by barking dogs, and ould like to see them taxed out of existence. Rural dwellers employ hunting and cattl dogs and don't understand what all the fuss is about. They want their working dogs to ark, deterring mass murderers, serial killers, and other riffraff They cite scientific evide ce that suggests that the number one island animal problem is not dogs; it's feral cat ,and question why nothing is done about them. And they have a valid point. Mark Twai wrote upon his arrival in Hawaii in 1861, I saw cats, individual cats, groups of cats, platoons of cats, companies of cats, regiments of cats, armies of cats, multitudes of cats, illions of cats...." No one knows how many stray and feral cats roam the islands, but Haw ii's cat overpopulation problem is legendary. They take a heavy toll on both native an introduced game birds. Wisconsin recently debated a proposal to classify feral cats s game animals so they could be controlled by hunters. Canines, of course, present a m ch easier target for animal control aficionados, and that is likely the reason free roamin felines are off the hook in the proposed ordinance. Where is this all headed, and what will b' done about it? You tell me. What I do know is that infinitely more effort has been expe ded on this issue than it can possibly be worth, and that no matter how many more time the ordinance is rewritten, it will have negligible, if any, impact on people's liv s. Most of the animal control ordinance is unintelligible and unenforceable today, d will remain so tomorrow. As with all too many laws, its apparent purpose is to en• ble politicians to say they did something about the problem. In governmenC, it's intent, tjot results, that count. Councilors, and their legacy, will pass on. But the barking dos and chirping frogs are here to stay.