Posted on: Friday, January 14, 2005

EDITORIAL
Bad dog owners cannot be tolerated

Let's make one thing clear: Dogs are not born vicious. But if neglected, abused or trained as attack canines, then that's how they'll behave.

So it makes perfect sense that owners must be held liable if their dogs attack other people or pets. The Hawaiian Humane Society received 380 calls about dangerous dogs or bites during 2004.

Which is why we support a bill moving through the City Council that proposes stiffer penalties for owners convicted of keeping dangerous dogs that injure other humans or animals.

If passed, the bill would impose minimum fines up to $500, mandatory jail time or probation and payment of medical expenses and financial losses to injured victims.

Dogs owners ought not to worry about these penalties if they treat their pets humanely. But many don't.

For example, it's not unusual in the Islands to see dogs that are caged or tied up without sufficient food, water and attention. In many cases, dog owners are simply ignorant about what it takes to domesticate a dog. And in some cases, dogs such as pitbulls and rott-weilers are being trained to fight and kill. That's criminal.

San Francisco just passed an ordinance that requires the "humane treatment of all companion dogs" that live outdoors. That means changing a dog's water at least once a day in a non-tipping bowl, feeding it palatable and nutritious food and providing a dog house that provides shelter from the elements.

Some might find these ordinances over the top, but in our view, they're on the right track. Under Hawai'i law, there are minimum requirements to protect pet dogs from harsh weather conditions, but they need to be expanded.

The point here is simple: If you own a dog, then you have the responsibility to take proper care of it and provide a safe environment.

The alternative is what we have now: hundreds of complaints to the police and Humane Society; volatile dogs that terrorize neighborhoods; dogs that have to be euthanized because they've bitten and injured someone.

Need we say more?

Let's pass this bill and expand our minimum dog-care requirements. It's simply common sense.