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Kitty confrontation in Keaau
#1
Aloha. I got this in my email this morning, and am just passing it on for those that might be concerned.

Kitty confrontation in Keaau

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections...keaau.html

From today's Hawaii Tribune Herald Newspaper:

Nonprofit animal sanctuary, Hui Pono Holoholona, whose volunteers have been feeding feral cats at the Keaau Recycling and Transfer Station has been told by the county it must quit the practice.

An email sent Thursday by Greg Goodale, the county's Solid Waste Division chief, to Frannie Pueo, president of Hui Pono Holoholona, stated that the county's lease of the W.H. Shipman Ltd. land the transfer station sits on expires on June 30 and that a provision of the new lease is "no feeding of feral animals on the Shipman lease parcel."

The new lease conditions do not take effect until July 1, 2013, so there is a two-week period in which arrangements can be made to remove the feeding stations from this site. You had indicated in the past you might have an alternate location where the cats which are currently at the Keaau site could potentially be relocated, Goodale wrote. He added that the county is obligated to comply with all of the conditions of this lease.

Pueo said on Friday that she is shocked by the lease provision, which she called "inhumane" She said her organization's volunteers have been feeding feral animals, including the cats and chickens at the transfer station, since 2007. Pueo was reluctant to disclose the estimated population of feral cats at the Keaau site, but said it fluctuates between 30 and 50.

We are supportive of trap, neuter, return and managing of feral cat colonies instead of rounding them up to kill, which has been the awful, inhumane solution that this county has been doing prior to accepting what we've done, she said. She said that her organization is in the process of building a larger shelter for unwanted cats than its current facility, but added that she currently doesn't have the room or resources to relocate the transfer station colony, or to accept any more unwanted animals.
Two weeks is not enough time to remove (if it were possible) all the animals. I am bringing this matter to others to see what we can do, she wrote in Friday email to Goodale and his boss, Department of Environmental Management Director Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd. She wrote that her volunteers have provided other services such as cutting back in certain areas the overgrown grass and bringing to the county's attention those going in to this property to sell and use illegal drugs on the tarmac area, hunting and the placement of animal snares (which we dismantled and brought to the Humane Society attention and Shipmans office). She wrote that her group's actions have stopped such malefic human behavior from accelerating and kept a safe environment for humans and animals alike.

Her email also stated that the group at no cost to the county brought in live humane pig traps and removed the sick and injured pigs that were running in a herd across the transfer station during operation hours.

I have had a few of your workers in confidence say how much they appreciate all we do, as in the past the area was depressing to come to work and see the misery of sick and starving animals, Pueo wrote.

She added that transfer stations are a breeding ground for rats and that the cats provide a useful service by reducing or eliminating the rodent population.
There is no rat population at the transfer station right now, she said, and added that would change if the cat colony is removed.

Goodale's office phone had a message on Friday stating he would be out until Tuesday, and the Tribune-Herald was also unable to reach him at home. A call to Leithead-Todd early Friday afternoon wasn't returned in time for this story.

Kimo Lee, Shipman's director of development, described the clause prohibiting the feeding of feral animals as a "standard" lease provision. We've got a nene population out here and other things to be considered, he said. We don't want feral animals on our property, period. Cats, dogs, rats, pigs, anything. It's not specific to cats. We don't want feral animals on our property, just like on your property. They're free to take the cats. They're free to take them anywhere they want to.

***************************
We need your support, Please speak up.
Good people helping the community & animals, never go unpunished......
Please support TNRM (Trap Neuter Release & Management) of the Keaau Cats.
"Kimo Lee, Shipman's director of development, described the clause prohibiting the feeding of feral animals as a "standard" lease provision" IF it was a standard clause it would have been in the last contract !!! Also these are not feral animals, they are abandoned pet animals dumped by humans along with their trash at the transfer station.....they don't even know how to survive on their own....

Hui Pono Holoholona is an all volunteer animal 501c3 nonprofit organization, dedicated to the humane treatment of animals. webmistress@hphhawaii.org PO Box 943, Mt View Hawaii 96771 (808) 968-8279 www.hphhawaii.org
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#2
I tend to favor putting these feral cats down. Feeding them is part of the problem.
Assume the best and ask questions.

Punaweb moderator
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#3
All animals breed to the feed. If no one feed them there would not be a problem
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#4
Seeb is right. The population will increase to fit the available food supply. Based on an encounter I had, at least one of the women feeding the cats is certifiably mental.
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#5
Put them down???? I don't thin so. Cats are intelligent and feeling animals just like us. The solution is capture, spay or neuter and release. I think a mass cat kill will cuase a war and I know which side I will be on.
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#6
Does anybody have a link to an official source (state statute, county law, or whatever) that spells out a homeowner's right to dispatch trespassing cats that pose a threat to their livestock (ie chickens) ?
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#7
The not-for Profit that Fran oversees is VERY active in the trap spay/neuter and release... Pets on this island that are not spayed or neutered are a big portion of the overpopulation problem on this island...if you know of any animal that has not been fixed & is ever out away from the owner... that animal is most likely a breeding problem.....

a HUGE part of the problem at the dump is the amount of people that dump their animals at the dump. This group has also actively trapped & arranged for the removal of many other animals... IF people to RESPONSIBILITY for their animals, then I would be totally against feeding at the dump... but that ain't gonna happen!

Other than banning all animals from irresponsible owners (yah, like that would ever happen) There will always be a problem with stray/feral animals at the dump & on Shipman land... I have no idea what Kimo Lee will do when those stray/ferals are still being dumped, and there is no attempt being made to trap, fix & taken care of a portion of the animals....but can be sure that the impact on the Shipman lands will not end until there are no stray/feral animals dumped on their land...which I doubt will happen in my lifetime...



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#8
Irresponsible owners/dumpers and irresponsible feeders are BOTH part of the problem. The feeders still keep them going for 10+ years after they're neutered.
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#9
i think the majority of cats at transfer station are abandoned pets. they are trapped and neutered and fed there, so they stay there. they are scared living things that need our compassion, and i would love the county to go after animal breeders that contribute to the problem. you see the cats because people dump them there, the dogs they take to HA, eden roc, fern forest etc. and dump there. these people are doing the work on their own time and money because the county wont address the problem by going after the source.
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#10
quote:
Originally posted by Carey

a HUGE part of the problem at the dump is the amount of people that dump their animals...


I started this tread because I got the email, and I got the email because I have been a supporter of Hui Pono Holoholona, and other organizations, that have and are trying to address the problem of unwanted domestic animals.

I understand Rob's point of view entirely, and because the fixing animals and returning them to their feral conditions for the most part has not resulted in an appreciable drop in their population over the 20 plus years that people have been doing it, I would consider that as an option, except for the point Carey makes, and I quote above.

The problem (on this island) is rooted not in the feral population breeding, because the whole program is run to prevent that, but in the PEOPLE's lack of basic decency with regards THEIR OWN domestic animals and a long standing tradition to just abandon unwanted animals at waste transfer sites.

This problem in basic human behavior was so graphically shown to me in 1990 when I, along with a very small group of people who monitored the lava flows as they covered Kalapana, became aware of the fact that the people who were being evacuated would just leave their dogs and cats and chickens and horses behind to fend for themselves. To in essence die of starvation, dehydration, and fire, simply because to take their animals with them was an inconvenience. Imagine this.. from the 150 homes evacuate we trapped and got medical care for, and placed in new homes, over 250 cats, 100 dogs, dozens of chickens, and a few horses. And these were peoples pets! That until they were threatened by lava were loved, given homes and fed, all to be abandoned at the first instance of being an inconvenience.

This problem is NOT the animal's fault. It is a crime (IMHO) perpetrated by regular ol' members of our community! Your next door neighbors! And, probably many of YOU!

Therefore I think it is admirable that organization like Hui Pono Holoholona give their time, money and attention.. their hearts.. to trying to lessen the suffering of the innocent! Right or wrong, it don't matter.

And to those that would abandon an animal.. SHAME ON YOU!
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