Fines for owners of persistently barking dogs could double under a Hawaii County Council proposal.
South Kona Councilwoman Michelle Galimba on introduced Tuesday a bill that would increase financial penalties for noisy dog violations by up to 100%.
The proposed increases would raise the fine for a first offense from $25 to $50; from $75 to $100 for a second violation; from $100 to $200 for a third; and from $200 to $400 for any subsequent offense.
Galimba said the increases were inspired by requests from community members who have been bedeviled by barking dogs without much assistance forthcoming from the county’s Animal Control and Protection Agency.
Galimba said changes to fines are potentially less disruptive than reducing the threshold for reporting nuisance dogs, which she suggested some residents might also support.
That threshold currently requires that a person “make a reasonable attempt” to notify the owner of a noisy dog about their pet’s behavior. If the owner is not reachable, or should the nuisance continue after the notification, then the incident can be reported to Animal Control.
“We need to balance this and not make it so easy that it becomes a problem with neighbors picking on neighbors over their dogs,” Galimba said. “This raising of the fees is the best way to balance the high standards for justifying a citation. Because it requires so much effort to get it to a citation, it really should have a higher penalty than the very low current fine structure.”
Several residents attended the meeting to support the bill, but also to urge the county to improve the responsiveness of Animal Control.
“It is really distressing to hear an animal in distress all day long, or at multiple times throughout the day,” said Sierra Sugrue. “I’m in full support of any increase in the fines and also enforcement. My experience when I try to follow the steps to address excessive barking, I can’t get through to Animal Control. … I’ve called at least 20 or 30 times, I’m not exaggerating, and not one time did my call get answered.”
Sugrue said that in the absence of assistance from Animal Control, residents have to ask neighbors to control their dogs, which poses its own problems.
“Recently, another neighbor walked down (a mutual neighbor’s) driveway, and he told her that he shoots people who come down his driveway,” Sugrue said.
Animal advocate Sylvia Dolena said she neither supports nor opposes the bill — although she added that any progress to strengthen animal control laws is “a good step.” But, she went on, the bill doesn’t go far enough.
“This past week, in Ocean View, there have been at least three or four reports sent to me … about residents taking matters into their own hands,” Dolena said. “There are some residents who are leaving out poisoned meat and fish and luring in dogs and cats close to or on their property. And it’s laced with rat poison.”
Dolena said that, reportedly, one of those poisoners said the county was aware of and condoned their actions. Although she expressed some skepticism about that claim, she said such reports are common and a result of Animal Control being unresponsive.
Animal Control Administer Matthew Runnells spoke briefly at Tuesday’s meeting, saying that barking dog calls are not high-priority for the agency.
“We answer Priority 1 calls at night,” Runnells said, referring to calls about animal cruelty, injured animals or animals that pose a public safety risk. “And then, the barking dog calls we would answer during the day, but Priority 1 calls still take precedence over the Priority 2 and 3 calls.”
Runnells conceded that it is very time-consuming for Animal Control to respond to barking dog calls.
The committee voted unanimously to forward the bill to the full council with a favorable recommendation.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
