HILO — A group of dogs that attacked a Hawaiian Acres woman in October has struck again, and a Puna county council member is pursuing action to have the dogs seized.
On Oct. 15, three loose dogs attacked 73-year-old Margaret Bartelt as she was walking her dog in Hawaiian Acres, injuring her to the point she required 10 stitches in her arm.
Just more than one month later, on Nov. 30, the same dogs attacked another person, Hawaiian Acres resident Robert Holland, as he was walking his dog.
Holland was not injured, but his dog sustained several injuries on the muzzle, he said. However, even though the identities of the attacking dogs’ owners are known, and even though Holland called the police after the attack, no action has been taken to force them to control their animals.
“Those same dogs have been seen on and off since (they attacked me),” Bartelt said, adding that she knows of at least six occasions when she saw the dogs running loose throughout Hawaiian Acres.
Puna Councilman Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder said he has been working with the Hawaii Island Humane Society on reforming the county code’s animal policies since the Bartelt attack, but his progress has been hindered by the unexpected resignation of Humane Society CEO Charles Brown during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Brown gave no reason for his departure, which Kanealii-Kleinfelder said seemed strangely sudden. The new CEO, veterinarian Elizabeth Jose, has not yet returned the council member’s calls regarding the dog attacks.
“By my reading, it is allowed by our county code to pick up the dogs,” Kanealii-Kleinfelder said. “So we’re trying to make headway on that so we can get that done.”
Section 4-31.1 of the county code says if a dog is thought to be dangerous and is not adequately controlled, “an enforcement officer may, in addition to arresting or issuing a summons and citation to the owner…, have the dog seized and impounded if the dog is posing an imminent threat to human beings or to other animals.”
A problematic word in that section is “may,” Kanealii-Kleinfelder said, leaving it open to an officer’s discretion whether to enforce action against owners of dangerous dogs.
“We want to make it so an officer ‘should’ seize the dog, not ‘may,’” Kanealii-Kleinfelder said.
Kanealii-Kleinfelder said he will meet with Jose today to discuss possible amendments to the county code.
In the meantime, the dogs continue to be a hazard in Hawaiian Acres. Bartelt said after her attack that they are thought to behave aggressively around other dogs.
“We can’t let this keep happening,” Kanealii-Kleinfelder said.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
