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Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Humane Society
to set trap for elusive
Ewa Beach dog

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Question: Over the last couple of weeks, my neighbors and I in Ocean Pointe at Ewa Beach have had no success in getting the Hawaiian Humane Society to come out and pick up a small stray dog that has adopted our alleyway. Many of us have called them repeatedly over the last two weeks, but they don't come and pick up the little lost dog. He is about 20 pounds, short brown hair, has a blue nylon collar and was someone's loved pet. The dog can be seen every day sitting in the alley way off 91-1069 Kaipua St. He is there every day when I leave for work at 9 a.m. and every evening when I return at 6:30 p.m. The neighbors feel sorry for him starving in the alley, and many have put out bowls of water and food. He will not let us get near him to catch him. Can anything be done to persuade the "humane" folks to come pick up this little dog? It's heartbreaking to see him lost and homeless.

Answer: The Hawaiian Humane Society logged its first call about this dog on Feb. 17.

It did not respond immediately because it did not appear to be in immediate danger or a danger to the community, said Humane Society spokeswoman Eve Holt. An officer first went out on Feb. 19, saw the dog and tried to catch it, but it ran away, she said.

On Feb. 21 the Humane Society received two more calls about the dog and responded to both calls, she said. "In those two cases, we weren't even able to find the dog."

Four more calls subsequently came in, and an officer was at Ocean Pointe when yet another call about the dog came on Feb. 28, she said.

Since then, two more unsuccessful attempts were made to capture the dog.

At this point, while the information you provided about where the dog is at certain times of the day was helpful, it will come down to setting a trap, Holt said yesterday. The Humane Society planned to contact the Ocean Pointe management office for permission to set a humane trap.

While the Humane Society will respond to calls such as yours, it may need help in capturing an animal. "It is very much a matter of working with people in the community to try to get hold of the dog," Holt said.

In similar situations, Holt advises people to try to lure a dog, one that obviously is not aggressive, "to touch it and tie it up or enclose it somehow" for pickup by the Humane Society. At the very least, reporting a pattern of behavior would be helpful, she said.

In this case, since the dog has a collar, the Humane Society would try to reunite it with its owners once it is captured. It would attempt that for about nine days. After that it probably would be put up for adoption, she said.

Auwe

To whoever is cutting, uprooting and stealing plants from the Waialae School campus. Our students, parents, teachers and custodians have developed a beautiful campus through love and hard work, and your disregard for someone else's property is unconscionable. Shame on you. -- Waialae School Ohana

Susan Minami, chief educational officer of the charter school in Kaimuki, says the thefts have occurred several times over the past couple of years, the most recent over the Feb. 23 weekend. It appears the culprits are "shopping" for specific plants.

Because the thieves target specific plants, including hybrid ti, sugar cane and hibiscus, totally uprooting them, it's believed they're either being kept for personal use or being sold. One plant taken was a red ti about 5 feet tall, Minami said.

The thefts are particularly upsetting because the plants are used to help teach students.

"These are for the kids and for educational purposes," she said.

Police have been notified, Minami said. If anyone sees any suspicious activity on campus, they are asked to call police.

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