LIHU‘E — Those who say marijuana is not a life-threatening drug should hear it from a horse’s mouth on Kaua‘i’s North Shore. It’s not that the young horse smoked pot; it panicked over low-flying choppers looking for the drug, which
LIHU‘E — Those who say marijuana is not a life-threatening drug should hear it from a horse’s mouth on Kaua‘i’s North Shore.
It’s not that the young horse smoked pot; it panicked over low-flying choppers looking for the drug, which might not have been an issue if the colt hadn’t been recovering from a broken leg, often a lethal injury for horses.
Veterinarian Scott Sims said he was working on Tuesday morning at his home office in Moloa‘a, when a United States Coast Guard helicopter and two smaller ones began buzzing above him causing panic in Stormy, a 5-month-old horse with a steel plate and screws in its broken leg. Sims put the implant in Stormy’s leg a month ago.
The choppers were looking for marijuana plants as part of an eradication program, Kaua‘i Police Department Assistant Chief Roy Asher said on Thursday.
Had the panicking colt not been contained, the animal could have injured itself further and would have to be put to death.
“The horse’s increased activity caused by the helicopter could have easily resulted in failure of the surgical implants and euthanasia,” Sims said in a letter to The Garden Island.
The choppers flew around for roughly one hour, according to Sims. At one point the USCG chopper flew directly over Sims’ clinic at an estimated 200 to 300 feet above the ground.
Trying to prevent the injured Stormy from panicking again, Sims made a couple phone calls before getting an answer from the U.S. military that a USCG helicopter was looking for a missing swimmer, which he thought was nonsense because his home is more than a mile inland and 300 feet above sea level.
And while there was a swimmer missing on Kaua‘i’s waters that day — Charles Slezak, 68, of Calif., hasn’t been found yet — he was last seen in the South Shore.
“If this was indeed a search-and-rescue mission, there was no possible reason to fly low over my clinic scaring the horses,” Sims said.
Sims, who is also a pilot and owns a small plane, said the chopper didn’t bother him and that he actually enjoyed seeing it so close. But he was pretty upset over the incident. And Stormy, which wasn’t exactly a happy camper, will live to see another day despite the scare.
“Fortunately, while the horse did panic in the stall, it apparently did not reinjure itself,” Sims said.
Public safety,
property in mind
Asher on Thursday confirmed the helicopters were looking for marijuana plants.
“The smaller helicopters were part of a three-day marijuana eradication program involving several government agencies,” Asher said. “USCG was one of our partners.”
He said KPD conducts those missions unannounced to protect the integrity of the program and to assure the safety of their personnel.
“Spotting is done at a minimum of 500 feet from the ground, and then we go lower when we’re in an active eradication mode,” Asher said.
Personnel involved in the program go through extensive training, he said, and throughout their missions always have safety of the public and public property in mind.
Asher said KPD missions to remove marijuana strictly involve manual eradication.
“Although spraying is thought to be more efficient, we don’t do that because we don’t want to put our citizens at risk,” he said.
Missing swimmer
Kaua‘i Fire Department Chief Robert Westerman said the department sometimes requests assistance from USCG for search and rescue missions on Kaua‘i.
Lt. Leigh Cotterell, USCG public affairs officer, said Tuesday in a press release an aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point was on scene and helping to search for the swimmer. Cutter Galveston Island, a 110-foot USCG patrol boat, was in Nawiliwili and joined the search.
Westerman on Thursday said USCG equipment and personnel were already on Kaua‘i for a search and rescue training Tuesday. The county helicopter also helped search for Slezak, flying over the coastline and surrounding land.
As of press time on Thursday Slezak was still missing.
The county helicopter’s first priority is live saving and protection of property in emergency operations for fire, police and civil defense, Westerman said.
Unscheduled law enforcement and other fire rescue and wildlife fire fighting come in second in the list of priorities.
In third place comes surveillance for fire, police and civil defense operations.
Training flights and training operations for fire and police is ranked fourth in the list of priorities for the county helicopter.
County spokeswoman Mary Daubert said the county will release a statement today summarizing the marijuana eradication program.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
