The year 2008 started out sadly for 21 cattle which were found dead. Due to the lack of feed and water, it appeared that the animals may have died of starvation and/or dehydration in Paauilo, Hawaii. These horrific images, taken 2 weeks into the new year, and first hand accounts of the person who found the gravesite retell the immense suffering these cattles must have gone through before finally succumbing to slow and painful deaths.
"Just a few pictures. I counted 21 dead animals: Piles of bones some with lime, about 8-10 carcasses in varying states of decay, recently dead. Two animals were still alive when I discovered them but died two days later. It appears that one of the live animals may have had lime poured on it while still alive, and died stuck in a tree while trying to move.... Starved and dehydrated, the herd had fifty acres of next to nothing. Little to eat, almost no water, they tried breaking through barbed wires and escaping into neighboring properties for months. A neighbor had been reporting dead animals for several months before they were removed."
The discovery of the cattle was brought to the attention of HIPD and the Hawai'i island Humane Society with little satisfactory results. In their report, the HIHS stated that "the investigation has been closed and there are no findings of animal cruelty."
Furthermore, the veterinarian who met with the Humane Society and the owner of the dead herd (a well-known cattleman), declared in his report that "everything was in agreement" and "a timely and aggressive depopulation would have avoided this crisis." Hence the owner was cleared of neglect merely by "accepting the consequences of not prioritizing the management of his herd..." to which he responded by finally putting down the remaining cattles by pouring lime over them while at least one was still alive.
It is difficult to understand how such terrible neglect of cattle which leads to death in this manner is not considered abuse or cruelty by the authorities. One person referred to this as "Basic Livestock Husbandry" and horrific as that may sound, unfortunately under current Hawaii laws, livestock is considered to be "property" only (as if they are unfeeling inanimate objects) and therefore, not protected or covered by any cruelty to animal laws.
But whether it was the law that tied their hands or something else, the Humane Society does appear to be rather sedate in their enforcement and response to the recent flurry of animal cruelty cases involving livestock on the Big Island. A long time ARH member residing in Kona mentioned that no citations at all have been issued in the past few years, a surprising news considering that there have been much public outrage and concern over the neglectful deaths of cattle at Kawaihae, the shooting of horses in Waipio Valley, and the purposeful herding/stranding of goats on a cliff in South Kona where most drowned when they tried to escape by jumping into the sea.
Ultimately, "property" or not, these Paauilo cattles still deserved better endings than the ones they got. We need to ask Mayor Harry Kim to look into this case (and other neglectful livestock deaths like it) with an eye towards changing the very unfair wording and interpretation of the current law: (808) 961-8211.
