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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Monday, August 5, 2002

EDITORIAL
Don't saddle HPD with problem barkers

When your neighbor's dog won't stop barking or roosters won't stop crowing, don't bother calling the Hawaiian Humane Society.

As of the middle of this month, the organization will no longer respond to noise complaints, because they're short the $80,000 needed to do the job.

Apparently, the Humane Society warned the Honolulu City Council more than once that its $1.6 million contract won't cover the cost of handling animal noise complaints without additional financing.

The council, however, turned down their request for $80,000 and left to the Honolulu Police Department the task of answering all animal nuisance calls. This seems like an enormous waste of resources.

When it comes to animal control, the humane society can deliver a far more comprehensive service than police, who have barely the time to conduct a short site visit and issue a fine.

Typically, humane society enforcement officers responding to a complaint will send a letter and brochure to the animal owner as a first warning.

If the noise persists, they'll show up at the home and educate the owner about how to tone down the noise. They might even mediate the dispute between neighbors and the animal owner.

Of course, one also has to wonder why the humane society is griping about budget deficits when it had no qualms about spending $50,000 to rescue Hokget, a dog that was adrift for weeks on the open sea. But that's another story.

The Hawaiian Humane Society receives at least 1,000 barking dog complaints a year. Shuffling that responsibility to the police is sure to cost the city a lot more than $80,000 it thinks it has saved.

Ultimately, it's a bad idea for Honolulu police to be saddled with the job of answering all animal noise complaints. They have more important things to do and such calls simply don't require police expertise.