If you have a dog

[Bullwinkle]

pea fowl sleep in trees - making great watch dogs. They are loud if disturbed from slumber - and by all accounts outside the barking ordinance.....and if times get tough (or get too loud)- tasty as well - grin

fun read about similar issues:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/chick...allow.html

[janeadams]

Hi Bullwinkle,

they've lived in the 'hood for years, but usually over on the North Road side of the homesteads. This year they've been over this side. We've heard them aways off, but never in our back yard. The cock is now standing in the driveway, both crying and honking. Weird sounds. Can't see the hen anywhere around this morning. I do hear another cock several properties away. Let's see, it's a gaggle of geese but a *what* of pea fowl?

Don't want to eat them, even if they taste like chicken []. I think I'll call the zoo on Monday to see if they want to try for ownership of a few more, or just be tolerant until I can get them to move on.

Jane

[MarkP]

Just to stir the pot, I would have to know what species of birds are thriving despite the cats before I could agree that the cats are not harmful. I bet it is not native Hawaiian birds. They may bring home mynas because that is all there is left. Up on the slopes of Mauna Kea there are feral cats that eat more Palilas than anything else, confirmed by video monitoring of Palila nests and by analysis of stomach contents.

[missydog1]

I am happy to say that I keep my cats off the palila nesting slopes of Mauna Kea. If there were native birds around where I live in recent years, they were gone when I moved here. What was here when I came is still here.

The topic came up of responsible pet ownership of domestic cats, not feral cats, basically saying keep domestic cats locked inside all the time.

My cats are spayed, well fed, have shots, don't bite, fight, meow loudly, and run away if a stranger says boo to them. They spend most of their time in their own house and yard, but like all cats they do explore a little.

Where I grew up in California, population was much denser, many families had cats and dogs. It was accepted that kitties wander around and dogs don't because they can scare people (and bite). No one complained. The dogs didn't bark and howl all the time. Most people spayed their tom cats so they wouldn't carouse and fight.

But here in the country, people (at least here) complain if a pet cat comes through their yard and compare that to the annoyance and neglectfulness of having a pack of half starved pig dogs chained up next door and barking and howling 24/7.

I am all for controlling feral cat populations (humanely), especially in fragile habitats.
It seems to me that people here are annoyed by the large feral population and by the local way of having choke cats and not feeding them well, so they carry that over into an attitude that includes loved and cared for family cats and even threaten to kill them for crossing a property line, which no cat comprehends.

I have no problem separating out loved and well cared for and trained dogs from the ones that are menaces to the community or neglected and abused so that they become nuisances.

Re the new law, I hope it helps bring some greater quiet where it is needed. Many people who grew up here simply don't notice barking, as it's been a near constant noise their whole lives. I get that. It will take time to raise awareness that barking is not OK when it's incessant. Taking the requirement for officers to sit and take time from greater crimes seems a good step to me.

[oink]

If you think your free roaming domestic house cats don't hurt wildlife, then you are in denial for your own convenience. Of course totally feral cats cause more damage but both are bad. Of course my old well fed to the point of obese beagle won't chase and kill a rabbit []

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[MarkP]

Again I am mostly in it for the argument, but "the lady doth protest too much, methinks". Cats are predators foreign to Hawaii who are out of place anywhere in Hawaii and will be until the last Palila is gone and there is nothing left to preserve. I am mostly intrigued by the way that dogs are rightly recognized as potential threats while cats tend to get a pass. Since I am mainly being argumentative I don't care so much how much of a pass they get, only that they are judged by different standards. Kathy, I don't think your cats are up on Mauna Kea, but if all feral cats were eradicated today, by tomorrow the process would start again as peoples' beloved furballs ventured out to explore, because people find it acceptable that their beloved furballs go out to explore.

On the other hand, I incurred the wrath of my sister-in-law and nephew because I planted some of the red strawberry guava. They were shocked and presumed to educate me how I have made the problem worse, going into great depth about how strawberry guava takes over the forest and pushes out the native vegetation. I tried and eventually I think succeeded to make my point that the place is already infested with the very close cousin the yellow (lemon) guava that fills the same niche so I have not really changed anything. So Kathy, are you and I guilty of callous disregard for the native environment or are we just being pragmatic?

[TomK]

I have new neighbors and they have a very big dog. This afternoon that dog, let free to roam around the neighborhood, came close to attacking a teenager with an infant. They were on a public road just having fun and then this 120-lb monster came charging out from the house and scared the **** out of them (my apologies for the language, but it's appropriate).

The infant was crying like mad because he was frightened and the teenager did all he could to protect him and take him away from the situation.

I was out mowing the lawn and my other neighbor was walking their dog when the commotion happened. My neighbor immediately went to confront the dog before I knew what was happening. Once I figured out what was happening I backed her up, but neither of us had any weapon or anything.

Thinking about it now I should have run back to the house and grabbed a golf club I now have in easy reach on the porch for dogs like this. However, the neighbor kept the dog distracted and when it saw she had company (me) it backed off although it was growling and not happy and looked as though it was ready to fight.

My neighbor has guts, her actions were impressive and very brave, but we could have had a tragedy today with a young kid being killed by an out-of-control dog.

The dog-owner has been told about this (they weren't there at the time) and if this isn't dealt with will do the right thing and call the cops.

Please keep your dogs under control. Barking is one thing, letting them loose to terrorize a neighborhood is another.





Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/

[PaulW]

There should be a bounty on dogs running loose.

[Bullwinkle]

sad - folks are not holding up their end of dog ownership - AKC has some great obedience courses btw.

http://www.akc.org/club_search/index_mas...lub_id=914

maybe we need to look into requiring proof of liability insurance, akc class completion & proof of fenced yard before issuing a dog license to problem breeds.

I know my home owners made me sign off on a list of breeds they will not insure .....

[csgray]

Those AKC classes are just for "AKC recognized breeds" which rules out 90% of the dogs in Hawaii, mine included. There are actually very few obedience classes available to people who live in the Puna area unfortunately.

Tom, where is the new attack dog located? We walk our dogs on leash all over lower HPP and would like to avoid that particular area, they really don't like dealing with aggressive free roaming dogs while they are on leash. My father, who is a daily walker, is coming to visit and we just picked up a golf club at the Sally shop in Hilo for him to carry for protection.

Carol