Pig hunting video offensive
to some, but not illegal

Question: Just after 8 p.m. recently, I saw a video of pig hunting on 'Olelo, Channel 52. I question the legality of them showing it. Even if it is legal, I question the propriety. It showed dogs chasing a pig, the pig squealing. They do not show the hunters cutting the pig, but they show the knives and the body of the pig. There was blood everywhere. It was brutal. I've never seen anything like this. I am extremely offended that it's on a public station. Shouldn't there be some responsibility here?

Answer: The pig-hunting episode you object to is no longer being shown, but not because it was pulled off the air. It basically ran its cycle, which typically is a month long.

Unless a video contains obscene material (or is commercial in nature) it has a right to be aired on cable TV public access channels, which is 'Olelo Community Television on Oahu.

And unless there is illegal activity that is "gravely obvious," 'Olelo will not prevent a show from airing, no matter how offensive it might be.

However, if someone complained to law enforcement authorities, such as the Honolulu Police Department or the Hawaiian Humane Society (which oversees animal cruelty laws on Oahu), and these authorities "deemed (a show) illegal, then they could confiscate the tape," said Angela Angel, director of creative services for 'Olelo.

Or, "If something were gravely obvious, we would call authorities because we would want to make sure that everything was OK with the situation on tape ... no one was hurt, or what have you," Angel said. "But if the authorities saw it and say it was illegal, then they could pull the tape."

Based on your complaint to 'Olelo, staff did contact the humane society about animal cruelty laws and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources about hunting regulations, said Kealii Lopez, 'Olelo's president and chief executive officer.

At that time, they were told there was nothing illegal, she said.

But the humane society, as the city's "animal control officers of the law," plans to review the video with the producer this week, said spokeswoman Jacque Smith.

Although pig hunting is not illegal under certain conditions, animals "must meet with a humane death," she said. "The method used for any hunting should be the one that provides the quickest death, or the hunters may face animal cruelty charges."

But if the video was not filmed on Oahu, it is outside the humane society's jurisdiction. It turns out the video was shot in 1999 and there is a two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, Smith said.

The federal government does not mandate that local cable franchising authorities (here, the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs) offer public, educational and government access channels, but says it might require cable operators to set aside channels for community use.

Public access channels are for use by the general public for noncommercial purposes; educational access channels, for educational institutions; and governmental access channels, for local government agencies.

'Olelo is the PEG access provider on Oahu, operating on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channels 52 to 56.

"Basically, as part of the First Amendment rights for people airing programs on our channel, we cannot infringe on people's speech unless it's unprotected speech," Lopez explained. "The mandate is that it has to be free speech ... and free of censorship. We can't keep programs from airing because the content's objectionable."

According to the Federal Communications Commission, federal law once allowed a cable operator to prohibit programming that contained obscene material, sexually explicit conduct, indecency, nudity or material soliciting or promoting unlawful conduct on PEG channels.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this law was unconstitutional.

"Therefore, cable operators may not control the content of programming on public access channels with the exception that the cable operator may refuse to transmit a public access program, or a portion of the program, which the cable operator reasonably believes contains obscenity," according to the FCC.

The show you object to is part of Hawaii Sportsman's TV, a series on hunting and fishing produced by Eric Sawchuk, whose full-time job is as an intensive care unit nurse at the Queen's Medical Center.

He began airing a new segment last Tuesday, focusing on flyfishing, but featuring home video of another pig hunt submitted by a viewer. The series is aired, as usual, at 9 p.m. (not 8 p.m.) Tuesdays on 'Olelo's Channel 52, Sawchuk said.

"We show all types of sportsman outdoor activities -- hunting, fishing, speardiving," he said of his series.

Sawchuk is a one-man production crew, serving as cameraman, editor and producer: "People invite me along or I do my own thing," which is a "reality TV-like thing."

While he says he gets many calls from people -- hunters and nonhunters -- who "say they really enjoy the program," he does admit, "I do get my fair share of complaints from animal-rights activists or people who don't realize what is entailed in pig hunting."

In deference to these people, Sawchuk said he did edit out the scene showing the actual killing of the pig in the video you saw.

"I do not show any graphic blood. I don't show the dispatching of the pig (by knife)," he said. "Most hunters, because of safety, actually hunt with a knife, because carrying a gun can be dangerous for the dogs and other hunters involved." He also said that he voluntarily placed a "viewer warning" at the beginning of the show, noting there was footage that some people might find offensive. Neither 'Olelo nor any viewer had anything to do with this, he emphasized.

Sawchuk defended his video as being no different from what you would find on the National Geographic, Animal Planet or even PBS channels, in which "hyenas (are) attacking wildebeest or lions (are) attacking water buffalo."

But the humane society believes animals attacking other animals in the wild is far different from hunting animals for recreation, Smith said.

"As a humane society, we are philosophically opposed to trophy hunting and trophy fishing, which exploits animals solely for entertainment and are contrary to the values of a humane, aware and caring society," she said.

Meanwhile, Lopez said complaints about a show's content is "not normally a problem (because) most individuals have a sense of who their audience is."

'Olelo does have a policy to air programs with graphic violence or that are adult in nature (sexually explicit) only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., she said.

The challenge with that is, "Who determines if it is adult in nature?" Lopez said. "Normally what we would do is work with the producers and have a dialogue with them. Our preference is to have them agree that, 'Yes, it's a problem.'

"It's a difficult challenge for us," she said. In general, "from a personal perspective, we might not agree or could be offended by programming ourselves, but part of our job is to see that no one's free speech is hindered."

|