Here’s hoping reward leads to arrest

The stories of animal abuse are all too common. We often hear about dogs and cats, mostly, and other pets, being tortured and suffering cruel deaths at the hands of someone who doesn’t know any better and doesn’t care.

It’s sad, really, that animals have long suffered at the hands of humans and will continue to suffer at the hands of humans. And it happens more than we think. We only learn of the ones that come to the attention of law enforcement and make it to the media. The instances of animal abuse, if we actually knew of them all, would be staggering and would make us sick.

Two recent cases in Hawaii have bought the issue of animal abuse into the spotlight.

First, earlier this month, a video made the rounds that showed a man apparently throwing a cat from a balcony or from somewhere high. The Hawaiian Humane Society is asking the public to help identify the man.

“This is blatant animal cruelty,” which could be classified up to as a Class C felony, said Allison Andrade Gammel, the Humane Society’s spokeswoman. “It’s a horrific video — that someone would do that to an innocent creature, I don’t understand why.”

The Instagram and Facebook posts were reposted on Stolen Stuff Hawaii’s Facebook page where some members suggested names of possible suspects, according to media reports

But Gammel said, “We need them to actually call us,” and provide witness statements as to the man’s identity and where the video was taken, she said.

In another recent case, Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control is adding an additional $3,000 to the reward to find the perpetrator of tortured pet cat, “Boy Boy.’

The cat was a pet of Sabrina Dela Rama and her auto body business in Waipio. According to reports, surveillance of the area during the night of the incident caught a male on a skateboard, wearing a backpack and a white hoodie. Security camera spotted an object near the male’s feet burst into flames.

Dela Rama increased her initial reward of $2,000 to $5,000 to encourage people to come forward. With Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control’s additional reward it brings the total to $8,000.

“Absolutely no pets should suffer such a tragic and inhumane death. Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control is committed to helping Sabrina find the perpetrator. Our company’s contribution to the reward is but a small way we can help with such a horrible act,” said Adrian Kamali‘i, a spokesperson for the company.

While we hope the people responsible are caught, we also know if they are, there are more just like them out there and it won’t be long until we hear of another story of a dog or cat suffering horribly.

It’s estimated, on statisticbrain.com, that the average number of animal abuse/cruelty cases reported in the media each year total about 2,000. Most of those, about 65 percent, involve dogs. They are abandoned, shot, beaten, stabbed, strangled, poisoned and God knows what else. They used in dog fights and research labs. There are some pretty demented folks out there and as we said earlier, they don’t now any better and they don’t care.

Fortunately, there are a lot of people who do care. We hope you are among them. If so, please be kind to your pets, and pets that belong to others. Give them good homes. They are counting on us.

If anyone has information leading to an arrest, please call Honolulu Police Department and reference HPD Report Number 18-106838 or call Sabrina Dela Rama at 429-4237.