Posted on: Friday, November 8, 2002

Big Isle residents call for stricter dog-control bill

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — The County Council's Finance Committee yesterday recommended passage of a bill regulating vicious dogs, though some residents testified it is too lenient.

Councilwoman Nancy Pisicchio of Kona said she drafted the bill in response to "horrific dog attacks," including the mauling of an 18-month-old Hawaiian Acres boy and his mother in June 2001. The toddler died.

This past May, a doctor was attacked by a pit bull while walking in her Waimea neighborhood. The dog bit off her ear, which was reattached by surgery.

Pisicchio said she herself has lost kittens, goats and chickens to dog attacks.

The proposed law is similar to one enacted last year in Honolulu after the state turned animal-control authority over to the counties.

The Big Island bill would require owners to take reasonable preventive measures such as keeping dogs from straying and away from where food is served. Exceptions would include instances of a dog protecting its owner or being abused or provoked.

Violators would face up to 30 days in jail and a maximum $2,000 fine. Owners, responsible for damages, must have an ID microchip embedded in their animals. Dogs determined to be dangerous would be forfeited.

At a public hearing yesterday, Jane Herbst of Hilo called for a stricter bill, saying her life has been disrupted for 14 years by noisy and menacing dogs.

Rene Siracusa of Puna said packs of abandoned pig-hunting dogs pose a risk to children and older people in her area. She said that her Siamese cat was killed by a dog and that neighbors' livestock was mauled.

Councilmen Leningrad Elarionoff of Waimea, Dominic Yagong of Honoka'a and Gary Safarik of Puna said a stricter law would be unfair to hunters who keep their dogs under control.

The bill is being sent to Deputy Prosecutor Mitchell Roth for fine-tuning and will go before the full council for first reading Nov. 20.