Posted on: Thursday, December 2, 2004

BUREAUCRACY BUSTER

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Q. On a recent Friday night, I found a stray dog on the doorstep of my apartment. It had fleas and mange, and appeared to be abused. I called the Hawaiian Humane Society and explained that I had no place to keep the dog and was afraid that it would be hit by a car. The staff person told me that they could not pick up the dog until the next day between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. They said the dog was not considered vicious so the pickup would not be treated as an emergency. The society describes itself as providing animal rescues 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so why don't they respond?

A. Hawaiian Humane Society spokeswoman Jacque Smith said the organization doesn't have enough people to respond right away to every call. "Last year, we responded to more than 15,000 calls for service across the island," she said, which usually means they pick up about 30 to 40 stray dogs a day from across O'ahu.

Because of limited staff, Smith said, the organization had to set priorities for responding. "The top priority is always a situation in which the animal or the public is in danger," she said. "If the dog is not in imminent danger and isn't suffering, we pick up within 24 hours and offer callers an anticipated pickup time. And we encourage callers to contain the dog if possible to prevent it from wandering off."

Smith said people can help by preventing their dogs from straying.

She said anyone who finds a stray can take it to the society, which accepts dogs all day at 2700 Wai'alae Ave. "We reunited more than 5,000 lost pets last year," Smith said.

Q. I have requested that the city install guardrails near my house on 'Aiea Heights Drive because of my concerns about cars that speed and crash into the yards. City officials have turned down my request. Why?

A. City spokeswoman Carol Costa said city policy doesn't call for installing guardrails to protect the owners of private property from the possibility of cars veering into their homes.

She said the matter was handled by the city Department of Transportation Services, which investigated the request. Then department director Cheryl Soon indicated the city ordered that the edge of the pavement be repainted to increase visibility.

She also suggested that you consider building your own barrier if you thought that was necessary.

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