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Database contains
dog licenses

Question: On May 26 at 8:30 p.m., I called the Hawaiian Humane Society to report that I had found a brown terrier with a city and county tag. The male answering said he couldn't help me because the tag number didn't match anything in his database. He said something weird like, "We don't get all of the information the city has." I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold. About five minutes later, he asked for my name and phone number. I asked why, and he said he couldn't tell me who the owner was but he would tell the owner that I had her pet. This is after he said he couldn't tell me whether he could help me find the owner. Within 15 minutes the owner called and was reunited with Coco. But what would have happened if I had just accepted the first response I got? The tag is current. So was what I was told initially true in some way, or did the guy just not check carefully the first time?

Answer: He apparently didn't check the right database the first time.

The "mix-up" involved a trainee, said Jacque Smith, spokeswoman for the humane society.

The trainee "was looking in a different database for the lost dog's owner information and not the license tag database," she said.

She said you were placed on hold while he went to research lost reports and consult with the customer service representative who was training him.

There is only one dog licensing database that contains all the tag numbers, and it is accessible by the humane society as well as by all satellite city halls, Smith said.

She took the opportunity to remind dog owners that the city requires all dogs 4 months and older to have a license tag. A tag can be purchased at a satellite city hall or at the humane society.

If you lose or find an animal on Oahu, you should call the humane society at 946-2187, ext. 285. It's the official lost-and-found center for all animals on the island.

Owners missing a pet should file a lost report, with a photo of the animal if available. The report will be kept active for 30 days and can be reactivated every 30 days if the pet is not found.

According to its statistics, the Hawaiian Humane Society reunites more than 4,000 lost animals with their owners every year. Pet identification, via microchips, is said to be a major factor in that success rate.

Q: Just curious, but do you know what happened to all the lanterns set afloat from Ala Moana Beach Park last weekend? Were they picked up, or will they become more ocean debris?

A: The more than 1,100 lanterns set afloat during the Seventh Annual Toro Nagashi (Floating Lantern) ceremony on Memorial Day were retrieved by teams on surfboards and canoes, according to a staff member with Shinnyo-En Hawaii.

They were taken back to the Shinnyo-En temple in Moiliili, where they were cleaned, dried and packed away -- to be reused next year, she said.

The Buddhist ceremony is held to honor the deceased.

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