HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0777.019 1996-1998
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the Council. My
name is Roberta Agre. I was a volunteer at the Kona shelter of
Hawaiian Island Humane Society for four years. For most of that
time, I worked twelve hours a week in the kennel caring for the
animals. I come before you today as an animal lover and a citizen
of West Hawaii to ask you to award the animal control contract for
West Hawaii to Ginger Towle and West Hawaii Humane Society. I feel
that they are infinitely more qualified to administer the contract
and infinitely more dedicated to the welfare of the animals and
the concerns of the people of West Hawaii.
Since Lisa Fowler became director of Hawaii Island Humane Society
in January, 1997, I have watched trained, competent, qualified
dedicated people leave or be fired because they would not obey without
question the directives of Lisa Fowler. This includes the manager
of the Kona shelter, officers, volunteers and administrators. Lisa's
focus has been on hiring administrative personnel instead of animal
control personnel, so the number of office workers has increased
while the quantity and quality of the officers has steadily decreased.
Gradually, Lisa has hired mainly part time employees to administer
the contract and take care of the shelter animals. These employees
in my opinion, are ignorant of the laws pertaining to animal control, a
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having had no animal control experience or training, and yet they
are immediately put in charge of caring for and euthanizing the u; ;u
shelter animals and responding to the concerns and complaints of w' 1-jam`,
the public. Ginger Towle and Madelyn Barrea are trained, badged,
experienced animal control officers and are committed to hiring
full time officers.
During the four years that I was there, the only improvements
made to the Kona shelter were the building of additional office r,3
space and a volunteer coffee room. The physical plant of the kennels
is deteriorating rapidly. The automatic water dispensers for the
dogs do not work. The walls between the dog kennels are so rotten
that the animals are nose to nose, a situation that invites the
spread of disease. The cats are housed in small cages in the same
building as the dogs. Meanwhile, Hawaii Island Humane Society has
built a new shelter in East Hawaii. I feel that they are reluctant
to improve the Kona shelter because they do not own it as they do
the one in East Hawaii. I feel that the citizens and animals of
West Hawaii want and deserve a decent shelter. Ginger Towle is
committed to improving the dog kennels and building a new separate
cat shelter.
In my opinion, Hawaii Island Humane Society has done nothing
to help the animal overpopulation problem in West Hawaii. They
have no program of humane education in place in the schools. They
have not tried to organize a low cost spay/neuter facility for the
people of West Hawaii. They have no veterinarian on staff to oversee
the euthanization of the shelter animals and to make sure that the
shelter animals are spayed or neutered and free of disease before
they are adopted out. Ginger Towle is committed to accomplishing
these programs and has been providing humane education for the chil-
dren of West Hawaii for years.
In the end, you must decide who will do a better job for the
county and the people of West Hawaii. I fervently hope that you
choose Ginger Towle and West Hawaii Humane society tQ*A s ~f~eel .
they they are qualified for and committed to this task. Flle No. n;,w~S r
Met To, Presented ?J C C
Ref. Date I 99A