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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, March 18, 2001


Injured cat's owner condemns use of snares

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau

KANE'OHE - A snared cat's injury that could cost him a paw has animal owners fuming over what they say is cruelty to animals and a danger to unsuspecting children.

The cat was caught early Wednesday in a trap near the Pohakea Point condominiums.

Nina Thompson, a Pohakea Point resident, said she and neighbor Elisabeth Jones found six traps in a wooded area adjacent to the condos after Jones' cat was caught in one of them. Twigs, trees and twine had been used for building the traps. Surrounding some of the snares were 8- to 10-inch spikes driven into the ground, with the sharp end exposed.

"These things looked like they were set military-style to torture whatever walked through," said Thompson.

Jones filed a police report over the trapping of her cat and the injury.

Police said the traps were an attempt by the Pohakea Point management to rid the area of wild chickens. According to police, the resident manager instructed the maintenance manager to get rid of the chickens because of residents' complaints. The maintenance manager directed his workers to deal with the chickens, so they set the traps, police said.

A police officer disabled the traps last week, but not before Patches, a 9-pound tabby mix, was injured.

Jones said she heard her cat crying out in pain just before dawn and set out in the dark to investigate. She found her cat hanging by a paw from a tree that was rigged with a spring trap. But in the dark, she couldn't see that a corded noose had tightened around its left front paw. She thought the cat was caught in vines.

Once the sun came up she could see the problem but was reluctant to leave her pet to get a knife, Jones said. She managed to break the cord.

"He was trying to chew the string off but it was so tight from pulling that he wounded himself and infection has started," said Jones.

The cat's plight, she said, has traumatized her 13-year-old daughter. Jones said her veterinarian said Patches suffered extensive tissue damage and what appears to be nerve damage. Patches could require surgery or amputation, depending upon the nerve damage, she said.

"If I knew they were out there, there's no way I would have subjected my cat to this," Jones said, admitting that she broke condo rules by allowing her cat to roam free. Nevertheless, she said, the traps are barbaric and an inhumane way to catch chickens. They also endanger children and wild animals in the area, including peacocks and ducks.

The Hawaiian Humane Society and the state wildlife manager do not condone the use of snare traps, although they are not illegal, said Linda Haller, director of shelter operations at the humane society.

"It could be considered cruelty depending how often they are being checked," Haller said.

The condominium resident manager did not return repeated calls for comment.