Murders of animals sad note for society

As someone who has visited Margaret Neumann’s home on numerous occasions, I feel compelled to express how terrible I and many others feel about the murder—yes, murder—of her two dogs, Boy-Boy and Max.

These were two of the gentlest animals I have ever had the pleasure to be around. Boy-Boy was a German shorthair pointer who was an abused and abandoned hunting dog that found its way onto Margaret’s property one day. He was skin and bones and could barely walk due to his toenails being so long that they were curling under his pads. Margaret was the only person he trusted, and over the next six months she nursed him back to health.

It took over two years of Margaret’s love and attention before he would really trust anyone outside of a few close friends.

He had just begun to come out and greet her visitors before running back to the shelter of his new doghouse before he was murdered.

Max was a gentle giant.

He was a Neapolitan Mastiff who was just a few months short of his second birthday and didn’t have a mean or destructive bone in his body. He, too, loved coming out to greet visitors and was beginning to become a regular at the Sunday polo matches. He knew it was polo day when he saw his beloved owner cooking her deviled eggs to take to the tailgate party, and he couldn’t wait to go and socialize. Just like a small child, he even had his special blanket that he took to bed every night.

Sadly, these two are just part of a group of five dogs who have been murdered over the past two or three years in the same area of Kilauea. All of them were murdered in the same manner. Someone laced chunks of meat with Paraquat (or whatever name it’s being marketed under these days) and set them out where the dogs were bound to find them.

In Margaret’s case, they watched her and knew her schedule. While she was at polo that Sunday, they came down her long driveway and scattered numerous chunks of meat around the area that the dogs frequented. I imagine poor Boy-Boy even came out to greet them and was happy to see this “kind soul” throw him some tasty meat before speeding away. Max came home and also ate some of these tasty morsels. There were so many that they couldn’t even finish them all. That night, Margaret awoke to the sound of Boy-Boy moaning and Max vomiting. By the time she could get them to the veterinarians in the morning, it was too late.

The damage had been done.

I visited Max and Boy-Boy over the next three days, and in spite of both of these experienced veterinarians and their wonderful staff working tirelessly, Boy-Boy had to be euthanized on Friday and Max died on Sunday night.

I hope your readers never have to see an animal who has been poisoned with this terrible chemical. It forms crystals in their kidneys blocking the flow of liquids. Their lungs begin to fill with fluid, and to the animals’ minds they are drowning. They continuously hold their head up, breathing heavily, thinking that they can get above the water, but it’s no use.

I don’t know what kind of third-world mentality it takes to wantonly murder an animal in this way, but for someone to obtain the chemical, lace the meat, then trespass onto another’s property to disburse it in an area where they know the animals will find it is nothing short of cold, calculated murder, and it should be treated as such.

The veterinarian told Margaret that he has seen approximately 200 animals murdered in this manner, and that’s just the cases he’s seen. Heaven knows just how many others have gone unreported. It’s a sad reflection on a society to allow this type of inhumane activity to continue.

Someone out there knows who murdered these harmless animals, and I truly hope that they will have the nerve to report it to the authorities.

Just think, it could just as easily have been your child or grandchild who picked up that piece of meat and eaten it. How would you feel about it then?

RICK EMENS Kilauea