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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0798.002 2004-2006 FROM May. 16 2006 07:08RM P1 May 15, 2006 HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Dear county council Members: We are writing you today in response to Council Member Arakaki's proposed bill to replace Chapter 4, Animals, Hawaii County Code. The bill addresses animals more equally than Council Member Jacobson's ANTI-DOG bill. However we do have valid concerns regarding the passing of this bill and any bill similar to it, Article 2, Animal Nuisances, Section 4-5 relates to all animals and the noise they make. There needs to be stipulations regarding when a dog is provoked to bark. Most of us want our dogs to bark because there are too many burglaries and cats running loose. We SHOULD NOT forget that we are NOT the City and County of Honolulu, which is an urban environment. To impose their regulations on our mostly agricultural island would be INSANE. We have animals that make noise, such as cattle, goats, horses, and sheep, which make noise when you separate them from their offspring. For the people who cannot stand this, they need to live in Kailua-Kona in the urban area of the town. To take away our rights to own livestock and poultry on this island would NOT BE RIGHT. My neighbor's one dog runs loose, poops in my sister's yard nn a daily basis. We have all learned to live together and work it out among ourselves. Our dogs bark at this dog because it is running loose all the time. Would it be fair for us to get cited for another dog provoking our dogs to bark? One of my dogs has been teased by the newspaper carrier. Everytime the carrier passes on our road, the dog barka at their car. One of the children in the neighborhood walks by our fence and makes barking sounds at the dog. That is provocation and we feel in this situation the person teasing the dog needs to be cited as well. My grandfather, who lived and worked for Parker Ranch, bought the land that we presently live on. He always told us that when he bought this place, there were no restrictions on what kinds of animals you could keep, nor how many. To limit us to keep 10 dogs Is not right. 'That is Oahu this is the Big Island. A person can have one dog that runs loose all the time and makes problems. You would be taking away our rights to own what we want. Does that mean someone with I I dogs would have to pick and choose which dog to get rid of? Some of us do take good care of our annals and love them like they were family, and give them the best medical can if they need it. We pay our property taxes on land that we own OUTRIGHT. Is it fair for the County to tell us what to do with our land? How fair is it for your County Council to create laws to limit what we can do with our land, including breaking down konncls that are situated close to Comm. No. Ref. To: Rif. i'a'e FROM May. 16 2006 07:0eAM P2 page 2, Hawaii County Council, Chapter 4. property lines? Those structures were already in existence before this law even came up to be worked on. Existing kernels, enclosures, coops etc. should be grandfathered in and not be touched. In this bill, the number of CATS one can own is not addressed. A lady we know of lives in an apartment type dwelling with 12, yes 12 CATS. The feeding of feral cats should be considered harboring strays and should be dealt with accordingly. We were always raised to believe in America, the land of the free, yet our County Council is trying to limit what we can own on OUR OWN LAND?? We think the County Council's time would be better off dealing with the traffic problems in Waimea and West Hawaii in general, Time spent on Animal Control (Dog Control) bills have been exceedingly high, and the County Council needs to address traflc issues and other items which affect everyone's daily lives. Article 3 only deals with dog licenses. The prices are too high. Keeping dog licenses affordable would encourage people to buy licenses. Making them too expensive discourages license buying. What about cat licenses? Do they get off free again? Almost every day, we see dead cats run over on the road. Why are only dog owners being penalized? We strongly feel that cats need to be kept on their owner's property. Cat owners are irresponsible by letting their animals run loose to be hit by a car. Something needs to be done about the people that harbor stray cats and feed stray cats at parks and other areas. The County Council wants to impose higher licensing fees on dogs, yet all of the County parks have signs "NO DOGS ALLOWED". We buy licenses for our dogs, yet cats can be at County parks without buying licenses. This is not fair. Section 4-8 (a) states that enclosures for farm animals shall not be located within three hundred feet of any property line. Does this apply for agricultural zoned land also? Again, we stress that when we first acquired our property, there were NO restrictions on what kinds of animals we could have, nor how many animals we could have. It is NOT RIGHT for the County Council to keep making new laws to benefit those who have moved into our neighborhoods because they are the only ones who can afford to buy real estate these days. Most of these MALIHM are moving in and trying to change our lifestyle. We have lived here all our lives and just because they don't like something, they want the COUNTY COUNCIL to make laws that are RIGHT for them. Again, we have owned our land before they moved in. Maybe these MALIHINI need to look for areas or subdivisions that have COVENANTS restricting the land owners in that particular subdivision. That way these MALIl-UNI don't have to tell us how to live our lives. They can gn and buy somewhere that suits their needs knowing there are COVENANTS that protect them. FROM May. 16 2006 07:09RM P3 Page 3, Hawaii County Council, Chapter 4: Article 5 Public spay and Neuter Clinic for dogs and cats is a good idea. Section (b) will also help the underprivileged people get their animals fixed. This will help a lot in controlling pet overpopulation, We appreciate the time Council Member Arakaki has spent on trying to help make this Chapter a workable one. However, we aren't a CITY and COUNTY of HONOLULU, and it would definitely NOT 13F'. FAIR to force us to live their way of life. We encourage you to put it out to the dog clubs and hunting clubs, as well as poultry/livcstock owners to get their input. We are sure that the people who would be AFFECTED by the passing of this bill would definitely have something to say. Thank you for giving us the time out of your busy day to read this. Mahalol! end6 Diane Kimum-Sugiyama ~P A Gj