Freddy’s Dog Park needs you
I write this letter on behalf of our Vizsla girl-pup. She is a paid-up ‘Ohana Member of the Kaua‘i Humane Society and an avid enthusiast of Freddy’s Dog Park at Puhi.
After re-opening subsequent to the COVID shutdown, the humane society has chosen to require a minimum $90 ‘Ohana membership to use the park, with a restricted, key-entry system.
Understandably, with current economics, many former dog park users find themselves unwilling to incur the extra expense, and the park remains deserted much of the time.
Our pup, Auhea Ilio Manu Ula, is forlorn. While used to a midday stop and romp at the park following my twice-weekly “town run,” she now makes her rounds sniffing all the familiar and unfamiliar scents, canters around the perimeter, then sits, watching the driveway and the gate for any sign of another dog coming to play.
She has a large, fenced yard, and enjoys accompanying solitary hikes and pursuits, yet Freddy’s has been her social milieu since she was a 12-week-old pup. She misses her playmates, former and future. Will you return?
While no longer a free public facility, but requiring a fee-based entry, my twice-weekly, hour-long visits at $90 per annum winds up to be a little under a dollar a visit. My dog’s welfare and enjoyment is worth that. How about you?
Kalanikumai ‘O Na Ali‘i Hanohano, Koloa
Ah another fee. Doesn’t KHS get lots of money from the county? Hmm? Now here’s a $90 fee to let your dog run around. There’s a $90 fee to turn in a feral cat. These both used to be offered free to the community. Well, guess what KHS? People here mostly won’t pay such fees. Are you seeing that yet? You will. You’re alienating yourself from the community. Feral cats are killing more endangered species than ever. Toxoplasmosis from feral cats that you have re-released is killing monk seals. Looks like donations mean more to KHS than our ecosystem. I’ll enjoy looking at your empty dog park now that I know why no one is there.
Well, the park was donated, and it takes $$$ to maintain it. The County does not own the park with tax $$$. There is a reason it is the only dog park (size and scale) on the island and why everyone brings their dog….it is maintained and large.
To my knowledge, the County provides half of what KHS needs $$$ to fix the endless mistakes and neglect of local pet owners and enforce County animal laws……donations and many volunteers try to make ends meet. We would not need KHS if locals were responsible pet owners, but the culture on this island is just the opposite, and why tax $$$ are required. Spending money on pets is not part of aloha island life. SMH.
$7.50 a month to use a safe, maintained, and fenced area to run your dog is more than reasonable and fair.
BTW, there is no such thing as “Free”….someone pays. Taxpayers (you) were paying for the feral cats brought in to KHS endlessly. This provides a limit of feral cats from the numerous hippy cat women on the island. Their heart is in the right place.