Dr. Becky’s Blog

Big Mahalo to all who testified at the hearing last Wednesday and HUGE thank you to County Council for working so hard with the community on this critical issue.  Please, continue to send in testimony to Council supporting responsible dog walking on the path - a privilege which we will honor during the trial period, if approved, respectfully.  They need to hear from all of us: dog owners, non dog owners, seniors, children, longtime and shortime residents.  These bills are important for the future of Kauai.    

I just heard good news at the meeting I attended on the mainland - Hilton hotels is going dog friendly even here in Hawaii.  More and more travelers are taking their canine family members with them to enjoy their vacations.  The Hilton recognizies the importance of the human-animal bond and other resort chains are soon to follow.

If you want to learn more about how we can all work together to prevent dog bites on Kauai, please join us at the shelter this next Wednesday, June 25 at 5:30 pm to hear our guest speaker, Dr. Randall Lockwood, Vice President of the ASPCA.  Dr. Lockwood is a leading expert on the interaction between people and animals and will be helping us develop programs to address issues on Kauai related to dogs.  We need your help to promote more responsible dog stewardship - please attend and/or consider joining our volunteer program. 

Again thank you all for voicing your love of dogs!

Dr. Becky 

Unfortunately my phone company dropped my call several times while on air today with KKCR radio.  I apologize to KKCR and any listeners.  So I thought I would note here laws regarding leashing dogs on Kauai.  Basically, our County ordinance (Chapter 22) requires all dogs to be leashed off your property unless in training class or accompanied by their hunter when being used for hunting in a legal hunting area.  Basically, this means everywhere unless you have the property owner’s permission to have your dog off leash (like at our Freddie’s Dog Park) on their property which is a rare place on Kauai.

Dogs are required to be under control by a leash 8ft. or shorter off your property (just having a leash attached and the dog dragging it doesn’t work).  This includes State owned property including State beaches unless State beach posts signs prohibiting animals - then dogs are prohibited period.  ALL County parks and County beach parks prohibitdogs and all other animals period.  The only exception is unless your are approved by permit from the County parks department (we commonly acquire for our dog training classes like the one we host in Hanapepe Town Park). 

I was asked if it was legal to have a dog off leash in the water or on a surfboard and as far as I can tell, this is legal.  BUT as soon as you land on ground, your dog must be immediately leashed and if you have to walk thru a County park from the ocean, you are in violation whether your dog is on leash or not because no animals are allowed in County parks.

Enforcement of these laws depend on the jurisdiction - State DOFAW/DLNR enforce State properties, County park rangers enforce County parks along with Kauai Police Department and we, the Kauai Humane Society enforce everywhere else like in our neighborhoods etc. along with KPD.  State law violations like a loose dog not under leash control by it’s owner on State land or beach are subject to high fines as well as County park violations where all animals are prohibited (up to $500 I believe).  Dogs loose in neigbhorhoods are subject to violations of Chapter 22 which requires appearance in court and minimum fines of $50 up to maximum fines of $250. 

We are aware of numerous complaints regarding loose dogs causing a nuisance and interfering with public safety efforts on beaches around the island and as a result, stronger enforcement is happening as we speak from both State and County divisions on all public beaches.

I know we have all seen loose dogs at beaches on Kauai for many years.  This has been against the law for many years but not well enforced.  As more public attention is brought to irresponsible dog owners, more attention is given to enforcement.  I honestly feel most dog owners are responsible but some are rude, inconsiderate, and just plain stupid - not picking up after our dogs on the beach or anywhere else is just inexcuseable to me.  Leaving your dog loose on the beach while you swim or surf causes much grief to all others sharing the beach and is rude.  Then some will tie their dog to a picnic table or their truck - causing dogs to bark and lunge at passersby, also rude.  If you plan on surfing or swimming, leave your dog at home.

If we want more dog friendly places on Kauai, we need to correct irresponsible dog owners and speak out for responsible dog owners.  If you see a loose dog with no owner or responsible person in sight, try and carefully round the dog up and bring him to the Society or call us to pick the dog up.  If you see someone ignore their dog taking a dump or hear them say it is organic compost, “bark” at them loudly and demand they pick it up and dispose of it properly.

We need to speak out for dogs, but we all need to be more polite and considerate of others with our dogs. 

Creative students Brittney Carter, Renee Sauceda and teacher Jodi Gusman from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School came up with their own unique way to help the homeless pets at the Kauai Humane Society by getting permission from Wal-Mart to have a toy drive for our shelters orphans. These remarkable students in a short 4 hour span got enough donations to help over 85 pets and received roughly $160 in cash donations for our islands less fortunate animals. MAHALO NUI LOA from all of us at the Kauai Humane Society!!

Seems County Council isn’t listening because they have yet to place on their agenda our newly drafted ordinance to allow leashed dogs and require poop pickup.  Please call council members and urge them to sponsor this bill drafted by Tim Bynum.  The community demands to be heard on this issue!

Over the last few days I have had many different conversations with folks regarding sharing our island with dogs.  I am saddened to hear so many people talk about their bad experiences with people who are irresponsible with their dogs - not picking up droppings, not securing them in the back of pickup trucks, dogs allowed to jump at people riding a bicycle by, on and on.  There is strong opposition to creating more dog friendly places on Kauai like sharing the new coastal path.  People say dogs will maul children.  People say all dogs should be muzzled in public places.  People say leashes should be no longer than 2(two) feet. 

This is not my general experience with people and their dogs on Kauai and their suggestions seem unreasonable.  My experience is people loving spending time with their dogs-on their lap in the cab of the truck, dogs in their designer bag at Kukui Grove, or dogs playing with buddies at Freddies Park.  There are estimated to be over 40,000 owned dogs on Kauai and I know we can’t expect all dog owners to be perfect, but we can help them be better so we can all share beautiful walks with our dogs.  Please, if you witness someone being irresponsible with their dog - say something, don’t ignore it!  Don’t be shy or fear repurcussions - tell them their dog is beautiful, give them a bag for droppings and encourage them to be more considerate so we can all enjoy life on Kauai with our dogs! 

Thanks, Dr. Becky