Kokua Line

By Gregg Kakesako

Friday, June 14, 1996

Hildegaard Verploegen is on vacation

ANSWER: The Hawaiian Humane Society suggests you call the state Health Department's vector control branch at 831-6767. The branch will send an inspector to talk to your neighbor.

Mark Leong, Health Department vector control inspector, said pet owners are responsible for picking up their pets' manure every 24 hours. Once a complaint is made, an inspector will visit the pet owner and explain the health problems caused by the odor and fly infestation. "We always try to resolve the problem by talking with the owner first," Leong said.

If that doesn't work, the owner then can be given an abatement notice to take care of the problem. If that fails, a violation notice will be issued, which means that a person could be fined $1,000 a day for each violation for a maximum fine of $10,000 for each violation.

In the worst-case scenario, the fines could run as high as $30,000 for not properly taking care of the animal, for the fly infestation problem and for the accompanying bad odor.

Leong said that removing the animal's manure daily prevents fly infestation, which in the case of dogs would mean swarms of dog dung flies - small gray insects that are potential disease carriers and that feed and breed on the droppings. Leong said a mild bleach solution or odor-destroying products, which are available from pet stores and local chemical companies, will destroy any odor.

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