HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0022.046 2004-2006 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
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Ginger Towle
From: "Glenn Thorkildsen" <gthorkilds@earthlink.net>
To: "Ginger Towle" <towle@kona.net>; "Debbie Gregory" <d0921@gte.net>; "Pam Bryan"
<pamelabryan@yahoo.com>; "Mary Holley" <mholley14@excite.com>; "JAbbott676"
<JAbbott676@aol.com>; "Herb" <herbjac@hawaii.rr.com>; "Karen Appleby"
<kkappleby@msn.com>; "Mary Sperling" <mtsperling@aol.com>; "Nancy Zorn"
<nzzorn2@kona.net>; "advoCATS, inc." <advocats@hawaii.rccom>; "advoCATS, inc."
<advocats@hawaii.rr.com>; "Cliff Morris" <clifto@hawaii.rr.com>; "Ferol Kolons"
<ferolkat@yahoo.com>; "Gail Jackson & Bill Simonsma" <billgail.hi@verizon.net>; "Barbara
Bower" <bbower@hawaii.rr.com>; "Margarita Scheffel" <mscheffel@keck.hawaii.edu>
Cc: "Pete Hoffman" <petehoffmann@hawaii.rr.com>; "John Schick" <wvagm@hawaii.rr.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 7:05 AM
Attach: 3 of Akau Dogs February 5th 2005.jpg
Subject: Call from Natalie -Waimea Humane Society
I just wanted to let you know that I got an "official" confirmation yesterday on the dog issue. Natalie
called me from the Waimea Humane Society yesterday and told me that the two dogs that attacked
Charlie have been put down. Another Waikoloa resident caught them on video surveillance in their front
yard after they had killed another cat. They are the two dogs from the original picture I sent around. The
other pit bull (brown & white) is still in the house. Natalie said he's an indoor "puppy" 9 months old. He's
the third dog in the attached picture (lower two pictures) that we found running on February 5th. I'm
sorry it had to come to this because I really like dogs. I'm still wandering who's cat they killed that
last time and how many they killed between the time they got Charlie and the day the Humane
Society finally took care of this problem. As far as I know they were hunting and killing cats and the
police and Humane Society were involved since October of 2004.
I asked Natalie if she could tell me how this will effect my court case and if she knows when my court
date is. She said I will have to call the courthouse to find out.
I'll keep you posted.
Aloha!
Bonnle
3/17/05
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