Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

[damontucker]

This is kind of an outrage....

I understand protrecting your crops and all... but to shoot these horses and then let them wander off to die... Sad.

And then to also face no persecution for it!

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/...ws/local01.txt

As Waipio Valley residents, state officials and Bishop Museum continue discussing how to protect wild horses from being killed by a valley resident, another horse was found shot over the weekend.

[Squibbs]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Outrageous, unacceptable and sad.

Shooting horses to protect your taro? fence the property. They were there first.
Work with the humane society to remove them. He keeps on killing them. Killing horses to protect your crops...no aloha. Is this what Hawaii is about?

Im sure the noise would scare them off, does this idiot really have to try and kill the animals. Hitting them as they run off..pathetic.

This moron needs to be treated the same way he treats the animals.

Using the land for crops is using a natural resource. He should respect what the Earth is providing. But yet he does not respect anything. The Horses are part of nature, part of the Earth. This guy is as low as they come. Killing them is unjustified and something should be done with this guy. I just can't believe this is not illegal.

Does this piss anybody else off?

What can be done to stop this?

[Squibbs]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

What? so no one cares enough to reply?

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Guess not.

[kimo55]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

i care. kinda

[pzarquon]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Guess we're just a bunch of horse ignoring, rabbit eating, definition obsessed losers. But it looks like there's a decent conversation in the comments to the story at the HT-H website. I never even noticed they had online feedback!

I guess if they were privately-owned horses, it'd be illegal, since they can be technically valuable property, and destroying someone else's valuable property is a crime. But they're wild. And a problem for some farmers, I guess. I agree there's probably more humane ways to kill 'em, but... if the government can poison pigeons for pooping on our statues, I guess hungry wild horses are fair game, too.

If someone can't take ownership of the horses, it looks like the best solution is already being pursued -- housing them on private property, and perhaps even getting the trigger-happy farmer's own lease revoked.

[damontucker]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

I never even noticed they had online feedback!

wow PZ... I thought you were keeping tabs with that paper? They have had the online feedback form for at least 3 - 4 weeks that I have noticed.

I agree w/ you pz that they are wild and people need to protect their crops...no matter what species it is!!!!

Even if it's a small bug that can wipe out a crop... animals are animals... we as humans need food to survive too... wild animals can find other sources of food other than the ones that people put hard work into.

[Konaguy]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/artic.../letters01.txt

Remove Horses, Restore Peace To The Valley

This concerns the recent articles about feral horses in Waipio Valley. Although a lot has been said, even more needs to be done.

Think about how it was, before we -- civilization came to a tropical paradise and it began -- the assault on the people plants, animals and land, the aina. They are fencing off parts of our national forest to reclaim the aina from invasive species all over the world and our island also. Thousands of people lived in Waipio Valley because it was the breadbasket of the islands. The valley produced more taro than all the islands combined. Living was good in the most fertile valley to be found. Like the potato or rice, taro was a staple of life. Living in Waipio was good, Valley of the Kings, home of the Gods.

[Miulang]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Maryland has a similar problem with feral horses at one of their National Seashores, Assateague. This is how they manage that herd. There's a very famous children's book about the wild horses of Chincoteague, which is also part of this preserve.

They could also try to capture the horses, break them and adopt them out. That would be far more humane than killing them.

The Bureau of Land Management also has wild horse and donkey adoption programs.

Miulang

[speedtek]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

What a waste of good meat!

Wild horses are very hard to tame. They can become very dangerous if not handled properly.

[tutusue]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Guess we're just a bunch of horse ignoring, rabbit eating, definition obsessed losers. [...]

What a wonderfully snarky remark, PZ...even with the emoticon! Hmmm...that really does kinda sum us up, doesn't it!

[Squibbs]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Konaguy, interesting letter in the WHT.

Not sure I totally agree, but it is a very good option. As someone else mentioned in the HT-H website, farmers and horses seemed to have lived in harmony in the valley for the last hundred years. The letter cites Restoring peace?
To me, it is all about restoring harmony, in the valley, the island, and in life in general. Shooting horses, causing them alot of pain and suffering, letting them wander off and die on someone else’s land is just plain wrong. What ever good deeds this guy had done in his life do not justify what he has done now. I still think if he is the only one that has a problem with the horses, then he should protect his crops with a fence. Other farmers fence their crops.

If the herd is too big for the valley, then removing all or some of them is the only answer. Some people think they are part of the valley's identity now. But even if some or all stay, they will need some protection and this guy needs to be dealt with in some regards.
Our leaders need to step up and do something. They need to state that this is not the way of Hawaiians. This goes against the fundemental beliefs of our culture. This issue may also bring light to the many problems the valley has.

What has happened to and in the Valley of the Kings is an embarrassment. No harmony.

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono

[timkona]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Shooting horses to protect your taro? fence the property. They were there first. Squibb

Wrong Wrong Wrong

Taro was in Waipio long before horses. Sheesh, the things some people will actually say !!

The WILD horses in Waipio are a nuisance, dangerous, destructive as hell, and flat out do NOT belong there. Killing them is by far the most humane thing to do. As any rancher will tell you, an adult wild horse is good for nothing but barbeque.

They are not endangered. They are not useful. They are environmentally savage in their destruction. ANY environmentalist who favors the horses is guilty of cognitive dissonance.

There are no good, safe, or sane reasons to allow those horses to roam Waipio. Aren't coqui frogs bad enough !!?

Plus, once they attacked my cooler while I was surfing. Ate everything.

[MadAzza]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Shooting horses to protect your taro? fence the property. They were there first. Squibb

Wrong Wrong Wrong

Taro was in Waipio long before horses. Sheesh, the things some people will actually say !!

The WILD horses in Waipio are a nuisance, dangerous, destructive as hell, and flat out do NOT belong there. Killing them is by far the most humane thing to do. As any rancher will tell you, an adult wild horse is good for nothing but barbeque.

They are not endangered. They are not useful. They are environmentally savage in their destruction. ANY environmentalist who favors the horses is guilty of cognitive dissonance.

That's all true, except the part about wounding a horse with shot so it can limp off to die an agonizing, painful death being somehow humane.

And you could swap the term "wild horses" for "people" and it would all still be true.

[Squibbs]

Re: Horses Killed in Waipio Valley

Timkona,

I do believe the horses were there before this farmer was. That is the point.

Also, I don't totally believe that the horses have the right to stay there either. As the herd increases, so do the problems..agreed. After thinking about it some more, they should be moved.

It is the shooting of them I have a problem with. There are better ways to deal with the problem that some guy shooting them and leaving them to die.

Sorry they ate your lunch. They deserve to die.

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono