Pending dog abuse laws

[Hunt Stoddard]

Almost everywhere I go I see some form of dog abuse around here. Finally something might be done about it.

http://www.stophawaiidogabuse.com/laws/pending-laws/

[TomK]

Thanks for that, Hunt. I have the same experience as you. However, my concern is that even if any of those bills pass, enforcing the law will be a problem here as even the current laws are not enforced.

[Chunkster]

TomK gets the prize for reality based thinking. Any number of current laws are not enforced, even on a complaint driven basis. The appalling treatment of tethered dogs will continue until there is a sea change in the local culture's approach to pets, and don't hold your breath waiting for that.

[mermaid53]

Despite all that, I will try to help push the effort forward by participating. Thanks Hunt for providing the link.

The Humane Society needs to get on board. I've called them sev times over the poor conditions of tethered dogs. They do go look but said if the dog has shelter, food and water there's nothing they can do. I told them the dog houses are like an oven during hot days and they come out to get relief and often no trees to provide shade. Half the time they're forced to lay on gravel, not grass. Which may be why they end up sitting on top of their dog houses. On cold and rainy days, the dog houses at times provide little relief depending on the direction of the rain. Worse yet are the dogs who are in cages and can only stand in one spot.

My heart breaks for them and I hope something will change.

[Chunkster]

I didn't mean to imply that the effort to support the proposed legal changes was not worthwhile, and I have sent off my emails to testify in favor. What would really help, though, would be strict humane society operated enforcement crews with dedicated funding and real power to heavily fine violators. To reverse a pet metaphor, the bite needs to be worse than the bark. I'm not holding my breath for that, either.

[sistersue]

Dog abuse is so awful here that I know of people who have actually stolen their neighbors dogs and given them to people they know who give them a good home because they are so tormented by looking at the poor things every day. The cruel people here who don't care that a dog is a living creature with feelings should be put in a hot box in the sun with no water for a few days so they can see what it feels like. As for law enforcement of animal abuse - that seems an impossible dream in Hawaii, and on the mainland also.
I donate money to the Humane Society every year which makes me feel like I'm doing at least something to help.

[My 2 cents]

LFA has added a new hazard to tethered dogs. They simply cannot get away from an infestation, and the owners can easily be unaware. Hard to come up with anything more cruel than that.

Another concern I have...people like to their dogs with them to town and then leave them in the car while they shop. If you do this, park in a parking lot in Hilo on a sunny day some time, roll up the windows, and see how long you can stand it.

[Kapoho Joe]

quote:

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Originally posted by My 2 cents

LFA has added a new hazard to tethered dogs. They simply cannot get away from an infestation, and the owners can easily be unaware. Hard to come up with anything more cruel than that.

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Amen.

[Seeb]

How many people are going to get bit by all these loose dog. A lot of the people that have these dogs don't have the money for a fenced in yard so it's loose, locked in a crate, or in the house with little kids.

[Chunkster]

Some people don't need to have pets, but keep them anyway.