Electronic Signage Approved!

We are on a roll here!

Police Chief Kubojiri has confirmed that the Hawaii County Police Department will put up occasional flashing signage on Waikoloa Road. In fact, friends of Malama Waikoloa Nightingales have reported seeing the sign already. Here is an earlier post on this subject.

The HPD have been responsive and very professional in meeting requests from South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee for increased reporting on donkey-on-the-road calls and electronic signage. Meanwhile, the Public Works folks will have the test of Streiter lites set up next month. Mahalo County of Hawaii.

HPD Now Reporting Donkey Statistics

Hawaii Police Department has responded to our request and started reporting  to the South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee calls about donkeys on the roadways and any accidents related to donkeys.

HPD is very responsive to your calls and takes action on them. They can't help serve you unless you report sightings of donkeys on or by the roadway.

See a Donkey on the Road? Call Police Dispatch 935-3311. Click for Details.

In July and August, there were a dozen calls for service relating to donkeys on Waikoloa Road. Details were provided. They were between the 6 and 9 Mile Markers. Sometimes officers were able to find the donkeys and round them up, protecting drivers and donkeys from potential accidents. Calls were made during both daylight and nighttime hours. But they were all morning or evening, not noon nor midnight.

There were no reports of accidents.

Our community policing officer is out there on the road trying to herd donkeys on our behalf, so MWN salutes his efforts!

"Don't be Cruel"

Here is the West Hawaii Humane Society's outstanding response to the recent article in the Star Advertiser, pointing out the treatment by DLNR and USDA of feral animals in Hawaii. Malama Waikoloa Nightingales, you, are the local community members to whom she refers. Headline is a link to original.

Don't be cruel to feral donkeys

For those aware of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' cruel and wasteful aerial hunt of cattle in Hualalai last year, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service's killing of thousands of animals in Hawaii each year, it's encouraging to see community members, veterinarians and the Humane Society working together to pursue humane and effective options to control the feral donkey population ("Donkey problems increasing," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 12).

Cruel, inefficient and archaic methods of control have no place in a compassionate society, especially when progressive, non-lethal means are available.

The Waikoloa donkeys were introduced by humans to serve humans -- we therefore have a responsibility to humanely manage their populations.

Ginger Towle
President, West Hawaii Humane Society