• Cruelty or culture? • Waterfall danger • Find hope in God • Random urinalysis is un-American Cruelty or culture? With the new year, I have made a resolution. I have decided to speak up when I see a problem
• Cruelty or culture?
• Waterfall danger
• Find hope in God
• Random urinalysis is un-American
Cruelty or culture?
With the new year, I have made a resolution. I have decided to speak up when I see a problem that has been ignored. I have been seeing cruel behavior and can not in good conscious continue to be quiet out of respect.
The thrill of the hunt and the need for food has driven Hawaiian culture to take up local hunting. It is beneficial for the island considering we would become over populated with wild pigs and the meat feeds our families and others in our community.
The tools needed for the hunt included with a weapon are sometimes a group of hunting dogs. These dogs are sometimes a necessity due to the dense forests the wild pig live in. These dogs are tools but are dogs none the less and have the same needs as any regular household pet.
Unfortunately, there is a problem in Hawai‘i that needs to be addressed even though culture is involved. I think there has always been a stigma attached to challenging a cultures practices even when we see that it is considered cruel and unnecessary, we tend to turn a blind eye.
Basic necessities for any dog at the minimum should be food, water, and exercise. A dog can live without shelter for the most part especially here in Hawai‘i with our moderate temperatures. A dog can live without attention and love as well. We can’t make laws to make you love your dogs, but we should have and enforce laws to the other issues and necessities.
I have witnessed what I consider to be cruel behavior toward hunting dogs first-hand. My neighbor has a small kennel with four doors and about eight dogs in it. We would see him every three or four days spray out the bottom of the kennels and maybe drop some food on the floor of the kennels for the dogs. The dogs are never let out to exercise or stretch at all. At night when the air gets still the smell is sometimes so bad we have to close all our windows on that side of the house.
On one occasion they had a puppy that was getting out on a regular basis. We were afraid that it was going to get hit in the road so my wife took the puppy over the fence to place it back in the kennels and was horrified to see that all the dogs were extremely thin, malnourished and some of the dogs had festering sores. They looked like the pictures from the German concentration camps you see in history books.
With reservation and coaxing from my wife, I contacted the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and let them know of the problems that we have observed. They came out, looked and left with no further action or contact to our surprise.
Now months later, and another call to the ASPCA with no response, our neighbor appears to have moved to another home but has kept his dogs here next door. He shows up one or so times a week as far as we can tell to feed the dogs. We have noticed the dogs conditions are getting worse and are beginning to fight between their bars in their cages, biting and wounding each other.
Now, yet another problem arises. I don’t know who to contact to save these dogs and stop this cruelty. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seems to not be doing what they are designated to do or their definition of cruelty is different from that of the dictionary.
Aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. The aloha spirit needs to be practice in all we do including the way we treat our animals whether they are used for business, hunting, or for our kids.
I’m hoping this letter might give a push to the persons in charge to confront this issue and enforce the laws that have been set in place to protect innocent animals from these conditions and misery. I am not an avid animal activist but I know cruel behavior when I see it.
• Adam Orens, Kapa‘a
Waterfall danger
The two recent deaths at the bottom of waterfalls (“Second body in 2 days found near waterfalls,” The Garden Island, Jan. 3) reminded me of comments my daughter made to me many years ago.
On one of my first trips to Kaua‘i almost 10 years ago, my daughter and I were kayaking one of the streams on the north part of Kaua‘i. I remember her telling me not to go under a waterfall because you don’t know what can come down with the water because you can get hit in the head.
With all the recent rains we’ve had lately there is probably more debris that has come loose, and is floating in the water making its way to the waterfalls, and to the sea.
One just has to look at the Wailua river, and the mess of branches that have washed up in Lydgate Park.
Hanging out at the bottom of a waterfall looks enticing, but it can be very dangerous, as we found out this week.
• Michael Lyman, Lihu‘e
Find hope in God
As a tourist, now for the fifth time, I’m greatly enjoying Kaua‘i and your paper. So much so that I have to respond.
Ms. Donna Brazile wrote “Hope is on the way” in your Jan. 3 paper. She touts Sen. Obama and she says “Everyone I know has hope.”
With all due respect, she sounds like someone waiting for the next winner on American Idol. Brilliant as he may be, Obama, or anyone for that matter, can’t be a source of hope.
The key to the right source for hope is provided in another of your columns, this one by Dr. Monty Downs, emergency room physician at Wilcox. In his column of Jan. 2 exploring how to cut down ocean safety tragedies, he first pointed to prayer.
That was Gen. Washington’s strategy at Valley Forge, FDR’s response just prior to D Day, Lincoln’s second inaugural address, among many instances of American history.
Let’s pray that President-elect Obama, who works out physically a reported 90 minutes a day, will spend at least half of that time on his knees praying for the hope and wisdom that comes from the living holy spirit.
As he humbles himself, really sincerely searching for God’s guidance, may divine providence be reestablished in these United States.
• Jeff Daly, Middletown, Calif.
Random urinalysis is un-American
Concerning Howard Tolbe’s letter, (“Drug test teachers randomly,” Letters, Jan. 2), what is it that Mr. Tolbe does not understand about the Fourth Amendment?
It states in plain English that no search shall be conducted without a warrant showing probable cause.
Seizing someone’s urine randomly in no way meets the criteria of probable. Random urinalysis is un-American.
• Allan Erickson, Eugene, Ore.
