HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0301.084 2020-2022 i}
July 2, 2021 1071 jUL 2 a .: : LI94
To Hawaii County Council Public Safety Committee
From Deborah Ward, cordylinecoloragmail.com
Re:
Comm. 301: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION WITH THE HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
REGARDING THE HAWAI'I RAINBOW RANGERS STAFFING AND
OPERATIONAL SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES
From Council Member Rebecca Villegas,dated June 18,2021_
I am a neighbor of Mary Rose Krijgsman, co-founder of Hawaii Rainbow Friends
Sanctuary. I am intimately aware of the crisis caused by an unfortunate "embed" from
Best Friends (a group with bizarre theories akin to Q-anon) and the illegal activities he
conducted, including false statements about the number of animal control officers he
certified. This individual was separated from the leadership, but he and several of his
cohorts continued to make false accusations regarding animal care. The damage to
facilities, equipment and reputation he caused cannot be repaired, but HRR made a
good faith effort to remedy the issues in the County contract despite the difficulties.
They were preparing to make an offer on a more appropriate Puna facility when the
contract was summarily cancelled without giving the leadership an opportunity to
explain or rectify the issues identified. I have spent time at the Puna Kipimana facility,
and while it was not ideal, the animals were safe, fed, clean, and cared for
appropriately.
The County has a responsibility to provide animal control services. I am the unfortunate
victim of an attack by two pit bulls six years ago that left me with lifelong damage to my
left arm and hand, and near-death injuries to my legs. If animal control officers had not
taken my neighbor's dogs I would be in fear of leaving my house!
For this reason, I think the County should give some deeper consideration to the
facilities for housing animals in its custody, including the purchase of County owned
facilities, such as the one own in Kona. Bar-King Kennels is up for sale, and I think the
County should consider such a purchase. I think the Council needs to understand the
cost of running the animal control services it charged HRR with, and to understand that
sufficient funds should be allocated to cover the cost of the extensive services that the
public has come to expect.
Mary Rose stepped up to help when the Humane Society did not bid on the County
contract. She had been running her no-kill Sanctuary successfully for 25 years, and felt
she could assist the County in filling the vacuum left by the Humane Society. Mary
Rose ended up spending her own money to provide the under-allocated services. All
she got for the generous and good faith effort was a dismissal from the mayor that the
"community and the animals deserve better." This is an insult, where thanks would be
more appropriate, (and recompense), and I can only hope that the county now
discovers that the task is far greater than the budget the Council allocated for the job.
Comm. No. I ' S
Ref. To: tha ar 0
Ref. Date . v I I
I welcome the Council's review of the HRR circumstances, and I can only hope that the
folks that contributed to the problem are not given a soapbox. They spread a campaign
of false and demeaning allegations, but provided no useful care or assistance. The fact
that the County professed to extend the contact for a year, and then rescinded it two
weeks later without a hearing has left the caring staff in fear and disarray. It has left the
vendor with a high level of expense uncompensated, a lease that must be rescinded,
and employees with an uncertain future. The County acted with disregard for our
community and for the animals by making abrupt and poorly informed decisions based
on false allegations.
Finally, I would like to know why the County hired at least one of the false accusers as
an agent to "manage" the transition. How was this position conceived, and how were
such person(s) vetted?
Thank you for this opportunity to share my observations.
Deborah Ward