Threats to pets?

[buraian-kun]

Just wondering...

What are the hazards to domestic pets living in Hawaii? I remember reading something about toads that are particularly poisonous. What about the centipedes and scorpions? What about things cats or dogs might try to eat? How do you protect the little guys?


Cheers,
-Brian*

[Kaonohi]

Cars are the biggest threat to pets in Hawaii, every day dozens of pets are hit by cars, and many are killed or seriously injured. I've seen cars not even try to avoid animals, in fact it seems like they deliberately try to run them over.

My cats play with centipedes without any harm, and don't mess with toads. A bigger danger is access to poisonous materials. In the last 2 years I've had three stray cats get sick and sicker and finally die due to some kind of poison. The Vet says probably someone in my neighborhood left out a pan of anti-freeze, which is evidently fatal to cats.

I'll let someone more knowledgeable talk about toads; my dog stays away from them.

K

[Glen Miyashiro]

Not only do you worry about what your pets are eating... sometimes you worry about your pets getting eaten.

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/haw...jail_time.html

[craigwatanabe]

When I interviewed for the Gas Company back in 1982, our safety manager asked me if I were driving a truck with a heavy payload and a dog wandered in front of my vehicle, what would I do? The two choices were swerve and avoid hitting it, or hit it?

I answered, "hit it". He asked why. I responded when carrying a heavy load, I would lose control of my vehicle as the weight shifted during this evasive action. If I were in traffic or if there were pedestrians, my out of control truck could seriously injure or kill others.

That apparently was the correct answer.

I've seen a driver avoid hitting a mongoose on the road by instinctively swerving...into oncoming traffic, making that vehicle swerve into the shoulder which happened to be a sidewalk with pedestrians on it. Those people had to jump out of the way. All because of a mongoose.

As for cats playing with centipedes, I don't worry about it simply because they don't seem affected by them. As a matter of fact, cats are a great way of keeping them away. Toads are dangerous to dogs. My stupid dog still doesn't get it and tries to bite those toads at night even after doing so several times and me washing his mouth out...repeatedly. At night I leash him up near the house instead of in the yard where they tend to hang out.

[Amati]

http://www.paradiseanimalclinic.com/385954.html
Here are some dangers to pets:

Paraquat Poisoning
Leptospirosis
Heartworms
Ehrlichiosis
Toad Poisoning
Feline Liver Flukes


http://www.petsonthego.com/imphawaii.html
Quarantine info for inbound pets

[Frankie's Market]

When I interviewed for the Gas Company back in 1982, our safety manager asked me if I were driving a truck with a heavy payload and a dog wandered in front of my vehicle, what would I do? The two choices were swerve and avoid hitting it, or hit it?

I answered, "hit it". He asked why. I responded when carrying a heavy load, I would lose control of my vehicle as the weight shifted during this evasive action. If I were in traffic or if there were pedestrians, my out of control truck could seriously injure or kill others.

That apparently was the correct answer.

There's no question that's right. I would also argue that when you're carrying a "precious" payload (read: human passengers), then even more so, your responsibility and concerns for their safety and wellbeing needs to come first over some stray animal on the road. As much of a dog lover as I am, I would not evasively steer if the traffic conditions were such that there was even a remote chance of someone in my car getting hurt. Fortunately, that scenario has not happened to me yet.

[craigwatanabe]

naturally as a truck driver you'd want to avoid any loss of life and would drive cautiously enough to foresee a dog wandering around traffic. But they bolt and they get in the way at times.

In my case the interview was about driving a truck carrying 4000 gallons of liquified petroleum gas or Propane. Hitting a dog would amount to a damaged front bumper. Hitting another vehicle head on could mean a blast crater 20-feet across and 10-feet deep with fatalities in the blast area and blown out windows up to a quarter mile away.

Hit the dog.

[Kaonohi]

Hitting another vehicle head on could mean a blast crater 20-feet across and 10-feet deep with fatalities in the blast area and blown out windows up to a quarter mile away.

Hit the dog.

It all depends on the conditions. On a country road with intermittent traffic when you're able to stop safely, hitting a roaming pet is roughly equivalent to the incident on the mainland a few years ago when in an argument with a female driver the other low-life driver grabbed her bichon-friese and tossed it into oncoming traffic.

Sure, be sensible. Don't put human lives at stake, but respect other life, too. Pets are not meant to be targets.

K

[craigwatanabe]

that's the problem with big rigs. Stopping distances are far and if an animal darts onto the roadway, slamming on the brakes could mean a jack-knifed tractor-trailer, or in the case of a propane tanker, cause it to become unstable and begin to fishtail out of control. Even if there is no traffic nearby or pedestrians (ie country road), the driver's life can be put in jeopardy with an out of control rig.

Hit the dog.

[Kaonohi]

that's the problem with big rigs. Stopping distances are far and if an animal darts onto the roadway, slamming on the brakes could mean a jack-knifed tractor-trailer, or in the case of a propane tanker, cause it to become unstable and begin to fishtail out of control. Even if there is no traffic nearby or pedestrians (ie country road), the driver's life can be put in jeopardy with an out of control rig.

Hit the dog.

If you get the attitude of "Hit the Dog," will you also "Hit the Kid?"

After all, it's one live vs. a potential dozen, right? Instead of swerving to avoid hitting the 4-year-old and hitting a car full of 40-year-olds, doesn't it make sense to save the four and sacrifice the one?

What's one kid, anyway?

An animal.... sure. It's different - human lives are not only more important, they are legislatively more important.

Bottom line:
Do what is the best for the world, and do what you can live with.

Avoid killing animals and people when you can, and numbers (quantities) count.

K

[craigwatanabe]

If you get the attitude of "Hit the Dog," will you also "Hit the Kid?"

After all, it's one live vs. a potential dozen, right? Instead of swerving to avoid hitting the 4-year-old and hitting a car full of 40-year-olds, doesn't it make sense to save the four and sacrifice the one?

What's one kid, anyway?

An animal.... sure. It's different - human lives are not only more important, they are legislatively more important.

Bottom line:
Do what is the best for the world, and do what you can live with.

Avoid killing animals and people when you can, and numbers (quantities) count.

K

To answer your questions:

No. Because we're talking animals not kids. This thread is about animals so stop changing the subject.

Yes. But we're talking animal lives not human lives. This thread is about animals so stop changing the subject.

Yes. It does make sense to save more if it means losing one. But we're talking animal lives not human lives. This thread is about animals so stop changing the subject.

One kid is worth more than one dog. This thread is about animals so stop changing the subject.

[turtlegirl]

One kid is worth more than one dog.

Um, I dont agree with that, buuuut to get back on topic, yes, cars are certainly the number one, numero uno, ichiban, way that pets are endangered.

[Kaonohi]

This thread is about animals so stop changing the subject.

Craig,
Did you want me to stop changing the subject?? I wasn't sure.

Anyway, I think the point I was trying to get as was:

If there was no danger from braking, swerving, endangering people, would you still hit the dog? I understand your reasonable conditioning in your described situation, but your closing line was always "Hit the Dog."

Would you avoid hitting the dog if it's safe? Or mare you so conditioned you hit them no matter what?

Nothing personal, but that would explain some of the behaviour I've seen and experienced on O`ahu.

Naturally, we're not talking about animals that run under your tires unexpectedly - we're talking about animals that can be safely avoided. And since you are in the industry - driving BIG trucks - what kind of feedback do you get from co-workers?

Inquiring minds want to know.

K + pets

[buraian-kun]

Agreed that cars--actually drivers--are the biggest threat to pets anywhere. Our dog is always on a very secure leash when not safely in the house. Really makes me crazy when I see people letting their dogs walk around loose. Whose fault is it going to be when they run into traffic?

Thanks for all the responses.

Cheers,
-Brian*

[Walkoff Balk]

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/f...-pets-1455341/

Treating pets as living garbage disposals was wrong.

[craigwatanabe]

Craig,
Did you want me to stop changing the subject?? I wasn't sure.

Anyway, I think the point I was trying to get as was:

If there was no danger from braking, swerving, endangering people, would you still hit the dog? I understand your reasonable conditioning in your described situation, but your closing line was always "Hit the Dog."

Would you avoid hitting the dog if it's safe? Or mare you so conditioned you hit them no matter what?

Nothing personal, but that would explain some of the behaviour I've seen and experienced on O`ahu.

Naturally, we're not talking about animals that run under your tires unexpectedly - we're talking about animals that can be safely avoided. And since you are in the industry - driving BIG trucks - what kind of feedback do you get from co-workers?

Inquiring minds want to know.

K + pets

If there's a chance not to hit anything on the road, that's always the best measure. One thing about safe driving is being an attentive one. However animals (and humans) do dart in front of vehicles once in a while. I just had an encounter with a Pheasant yesterday when driving over on the Saddle Road. One was flying across the street into the sun when it flew right in front of my minivan packed full of kids. I saw it coming but because the speed was 45-mph and it flew from my left to my right, I couldn't have avoided it in that split second. I could have swerved or slammed on the brakes, but I realized in doing so it would have sent my van out of control and all of us in the van careening off the roadway and into some ironwood tree...so I hit the bird.

A safe, attentive driver will spot things like animals on the road or even animals on the side of the road. When we do, we will slow down in the event we must brake to avoid hitting that animal that didn't move out of the way or got in the way as our vehicles approach. Even if the animal cannot be seen because of trash cans, parked vehicles, or even road conditions such as blind hills or sunlight in your eyes, you as an attentive driver will slow down to a safe speed to allow for speed adjustments if necessary.

In my case this Pheasant came flying out of brush, cut almost 10-feet back from the roadway at a speed that was very fast. Even if I was stopped in the road, because the sun was in the bird's eyes it would have hit the side of my van anyway. That was an unavoidable situation.

As for feedback, most of us are required to ride with the truckers to get the feel of what they do. Trucks can't stop as quickly as cars so when a car cuts off a fully loaded tanker full of LPG, there's a good chance that tanker won't stop in time to avoid rear-ending the vehicle that cut it off. I've heard of tankers rolling their trucks and cargo to avoid hitting the rear of a van packed full of kids. I've visited truckers in hospitals who did that to avoid killing innocent people and instead almost killing themselves because of ignorant drivers cutting off trucks.

Drive safe and drive smart. Stop if you can but if it was between killing a dog bent on getting in the wrong place at the wrong time or getting killed yourself or innocent bystanders...like I said...kill the dog.

If it was a human being, then the Book of John 15:13 applies and that is: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends or his fellow man.

[craigwatanabe]

Um, I dont agree with that, buuuut to get back on topic, yes, cars are certainly the number one, numero uno, ichiban, way that pets are endangered.

I have six boys and one dog. The humans get preferred treatment over the dog. But if I see you barrelling down the road and couldn't stop in time and I could only save myself, I'll leave my dog since I know you'll save him by killing yourself instead of my dog.

[Walkoff Balk]

There was a scene in Family Guy where Brian the Dog was feeling guilty that he drove over and killed a dog. The human cartoon characters just laughed at him because killing a dog isn't a a criminal act as killing a human.

[Kaonohi]

If there's a chance not to hit anything on the road, that's always the best measure.
(...)
A safe, attentive driver will spot things like animals on the road or even animals on the side of the road. When we do, we will slow down in the event we must brake to avoid hitting that animal that didn't move out of the way or got in the way as our vehicles approach. Even if the animal cannot be seen because of trash cans, parked vehicles, or even road conditions such as blind hills or sunlight in your eyes, you as an attentive driver will slow down to a safe speed to allow for speed adjustments if necessary.
(....)

Awesome post Craig. It told me what I needed to know.

[Walkoff Balk]

https://www.kitv.com/story/43062924/...t-kahului-pier

Kusai nei.