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We had a situation here today in HPP. My 11 year old male cat was sitting on our front rock wall when a guy from down the street was walking with his Pit Bull (without a leash) walked past and saw my cat and ran up the rock wall to get it. My cat ran...but the pit bull cornered it and broke its neck. The owner just stood there and did nothing. When the dog finished with my cat..he ran back to his owner and they turned around and walk back to their house. My wife saw this happen..but she is handicapped and could do nothing but watch from our deck while screaming at him!
My Question...Is there anything legally we can do against the owner of the Pit Bull that will help other owners on the block with cats from this happening again?
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Sue.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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macuu222 i am so sorry you had to go through that. a neighbor and friend had a huge cat kennel and another neighbor's 2 pits broke through and killed several cats. i sat with her and we called human society and police, with no response from either. about 2 days later, the same pits killed another cat on her porch. we called again. no response. finially several of us all called within about 5 minutes. 2 police cars came. i said we left everything there so you could see. the female police officer looked horrified and said to me " i dont want to see a dead cat!" my neighbor was crying and said she didnt want to see any of her dead cats either. the owners of the pitpulls are meanwhile starring at us out their window. the police go knock on their door and they dont answer, so the police said, well nothing we can do. they left a note on the door saying to call the police station when they got home. we all offered to go to court with her. but she was afraid. when we called the humane society that lady said to us, you better think carefullly about how far you push this, your neighbors might retaliate. these were not her exact words, but the message was very clear. about a month latter, these same 2 dogs chased me and i had to throw myself into the bed of a truck parked nearby as i couldnt outrun them. i was quite bruised up and called yet again. dogs still there....and then the police are still wondering about the community survey and why the public doesnt bother calling them.....
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Macuu222 I am so sorry about your kitty. This may help, and not sure if you looked into this already but "Section 4-31. Regulation of dangerous dogs; prohibited acts; conditions on owner; penalties" under the Hawaii County Code
http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/lb-countycode/#countycode tells you the steps necessary for you and the owner. I would start by getting witness statements and what not. If the police fail to act in accordance with the law, you can sue the owner and if you feel like opening a can of worms, the county for not enforcing the laws. Good luck to you and again, sorry about your kitty
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Let's see.....in Hawaii you can't actually get a concealed weapons permit. You can't carry a knife, club, or any other form of self defense. So, just like what happened on my street a few months back: My daughter was jogging and returning to my house when a large pit bull ran out from under a fence and attacked and bit her 4 times. This was from a house 2 lots over from me. I grabbed an item that would make it difficult for a dog to attack me without getting some dog bones broken in the process and walked down my driveway to the street and was attacked by the same pit bull. My item made the dog think twice about getting close enough to me that I could utilize said item. I went back to my house and had my daughter call the police. I learned a few minutes later that my neighbors were returning from their nightly walk and were attacked and one gent got a nasty pit bull bite when the same dog attacked him. The police sent one officer out. There were at least 2 witnesses that saw the whole thing. One was a neighbor from across the street. One was a nice lady that saw these things go down, and then stayed to give the police her statement. When my daughter was asked by the officer if she wanted to press charges, she asked if she could think it over for a day, and he said that would be fine. Turns out the dog was owned by the boyfriend of the lady that owned the house, and she threw him and his dogs out. When my daughter found this out, she decided not to press charges.
Now, I don't go wandering around walking after dark. But I will take a walk or ride my bicycle in HPP whenever I want to. And I will be bringing some kind of protection with me when I do. It will NOT be a firearm. It will be what I used to keep that pitbull off my ass. If a dog wants to take a piece of me, they are going to remember that event for a very long time. And maybe, just maybe the next time they see a bicyclist or pedestrian, they might not be so quick to attack them. I have had 4 dogs run after me from the same lot while riding by on my bike. I ride a lot here, and it's not uncommon for me to go on a 17-18 mile ride within HPP. I've learned which streets I don't have to worry about, as those dogs are either tied up, or secured behind a fence. There is no excuse for snarling dogs to be loose. What if there had been a little kid walking down the street the night that pit bull was attacking everyone it saw? A small kid could easily have been killed, especially if no one was there to help them.
Dog owners, control your dogs. You are responsible for them. You are responsible for the medical costs of the people your dogs attack. And if you are walking your dog and can't control them, then don't be surprised when they attack the wrong person, or someone on the wrong street, and they handle what you won't. These streets are for everyone to drive, walk, bicycle on, and take their kids for walks without having fear of dog attacks. I don't have a dog as I can't afford to fence in an acre, and I sure don't want to have to worry about my dog hurting anyone or someone's pets.
Sorry this happened to the original poster here. My daughter lives off Makuu and I've heard about some dogs down there that like to kill chickens and such. My daughter has been attacked by dogs on 23rd and bitten twice. Both times she called the police and both times they sent officers out that handled things very well, so my experience with the police has been a positive one.
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
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Wow. So sorry to hear your story. Poor kitties. What a pitiful response from the police.
Nothing left to do but
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When I go walking in Hawaii I carry a walking stick wherever I go. I picked this one out extra special. It is much heavier at the top than at the bottom and over 6ft tall. Should a 4 (or 2) legged monster attack, the inertia behind a good long swing with that thing will hurt. My Grandfather taught me this. He poured lead into the top of his, I'll have to look into if that's legal or not, may just do it myself. That "dog stick" saved his life in rural Michigan when 2 feral dogs attacked him. He crushed their skulls in; said they were huge 70 lb dogs and all it took was a good swing to the head
AKpilot
We're all here, because we're not all there!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
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When I lived in Puyallup (pew-al-up) Washington I met a mountain biker. He told me he rode in some very woodsy trails way out there. He carries a revolver when he did. One time he was confronted by a pack of wild dogs in the woods. It was plain that they wanted him for lunch. He shot one of them and the noise ran the rest of them off. He had a carry permit for the gun.
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
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When we go walking we carry a small thing of pepper spray and a stick. Is it legal to carry pepper spray there?
