HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0022.073 2004-2006
I ~ From Fred }-{-olSc.l~ u h
Hawaii County Animal Control -Comedy or Tragedy?,
By Richard Hoeflinger
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Hawaii County is currently wrestling with an attempt to amend Chapter,4 of the County
Code titled "Animals". In so doing, it has opened a can of worms that.. "~s almost every
island faction against every other. The code revision is known as Coriht~'8111 No. 4, and
it is currently in its 6`h draft, with Draft 7 looming on the horizon. No one appears happy
with the result.
So, what is it all about? Reading through Bi114's voluminous pages of incoherent
gobbledygook is akin to undergoing a root canal. But as one wades through this repetitive
tome, it becomes clear that it is an anti dog bill, prepared by persons who have little
knowledge of animal behavior.
Bill 4 was introduced by a Council Member who claims his office has received
"hundreds" of complaints of noisy dogs. (A citizen request for a copy of the complaints
remains unanswered.) The bill was on a fast track through the Council until island
hunters learned of some of its provisions -such as a 500 percent increase in dog license
fees -and demanded public hearings.
Four hearings were subsequently held in Hilo, Ocean View, Kona, and Waimea. The
results were so contentious, that two additional community discussions were held in
Keaau and Waimea. Community opinien strongly favored scrapping the bill and starting
over.
As the worms were untangled, the cast of chazacters associated with this production
emerged. In a lead role is the bill's sponsor, a Don Quixote-esque Councilman, engaged
in his life mission to turn the Island of Hawaii into a socialist utopia. It is probably no
coincidence that this individual is a cat owner, and displays an animus toward dogs.
Playing a major part in writing the ordinance is a likeable and well meaning Deputy
Prosecutor. His major fault is that he speaks English as a second language. His primary
tongue is Legalese, a language that maximizes the number of words employed in any
thought, while minimizing coherence artd comprehension. Draft 5 of Bill 4 fills 13 pages,
with the term "dog" alone appearing 183 times.
Den Mother for the production is the le<rder of a citizen volunteer organization whose
goal is to seek solutions to a variety of island problems. The organization's "Animal
Control Task Force" identified dogs as a priority problem, and its influence on the
ordinance reflects the organization members' predominately suburban lifestyle and
limited knowledge of animals.
Then we have the Hawaii Island Humane Society, which holds the current contract for
county animal control, and is likely salivating over the empire it would oversee if the
amended ordinance is passed. A significant statutory change would place noisy dog
enforcement under the contract animal control agency. It is currently the responsibility of ~l
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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.