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West Hawaii Humane Society ~ P.O. Box 2695 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96745 _ (808) 329-2051 Fax: (808) 329-6721 E mail - towler?a kona.net March 17, 2005 To -County Council From -Ginger Towle Subject -Chapter 4, Draft 5 Overall I approve of this bill, however, I feel that some additions are needed. I feel it is extremely important to add a section verifying that an individual may use tape recordings, properly identified as to time, location etc. as evidence in Court. Yes I know it is legal to do so, however some judges are not accepting such evidence. This section would verify and clarify that use. With the vastness of our island and with the lack of police personnel it makes this law unenforceable unless you give people a means to verify their problem. I feel that the barking dogs should also be the responsibility of the Humane Society. In the past the police would turn in the barking dog cases to me each morning and my officers would follow up. The Humane Society has the training information materials to help the dog owner. The holding time for cats needs to be the same as for dogs. This was also National Animal Control's recommendation. Arbitrarily putting cats down immediately could result in a lawsuit. Cats are considered personal property! I feel having volunteer "special officers" in neighborhoods that are trained by the police, and give citations for straying and barking dogs is an excellent idea. I've heard a rumor that there is a consideration to allow hunters the privilege of not having to license some of their dogs. That is not only unfair to everyone else buying a license but It's ridiculous; our license fees are now to go to the spay/neuter fund. These are "puppy mills." Just where do you think all the spare puppies go that the hunters deem not "good hunting stock?" Right to the Humane Society! I know because it used to happen to me at the shelter all the time! The hunters I know have maybe 2 or 3 dogs. Having a vast number of dogs for hunting may mean someone has a hunting business and probably should have a Business license. In the distant past I knew of a man who ran such a business and kept, he said, 60 dogs. They were up in the hills somewhere. He flatly told me he had no intention of ever licensing the dogs because they didn't last that long! If the hunters had to make an investment of a license maybe they wouldn't feel it was necessary to own so many dogs! What if we applied this rational to other licensing programs? An individual might own 2 or 3 cars, all properly licensed. Some of his buddy's loved cars and they keep buying more and more and racing them all over. The authorities would say, "Gee, they really love their cars, it's their hobby! We'll just have them license 4 of them and we won't worry about how many more they acquire!" If you are thinking about a kennel license or breeding licenses then you need to get the Kennel Club involved and you need to make sure large kennels are not permitted in residential neighborhoods. And again, we do not need puppy mills. The complaints I get are for barking dogs, dogs running loose in neighborhood, loose aggressive dogs, dogs on the beach AND HUNTERS WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF DOGS TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. Many times some of the hunters are very aggressive in their actions and residents call me to see if there is anything I can do to help. Pets have been killed as the hunting entourage moves through the area. The people feel threatened and are afraid to file complaints even if, and sometimes, especially if they know the hunters. I have never had a compliant where a hunter had one or two dogs. I have included a letter regarding the Waikoloa dogs that were on a long time cat-killing spree, breaking through screen doors etc. They have finally been dealt with! Comm. No. 2 L. Ref. To: Preoe~N/ ~rf. Uar,: MAR 1 7 9ftf15