no-kill animal bill shelved

A City Council committee voted Tuesday to defer a proposal requiring the Hawaiian Humane Society to inform no-kill shelters and the public whenever it intends to kill animals brought to the Moiliili facility.

Parks and Cultural Affairs Chairman Tom Berg called for the deferral of Bill 57 after the other members of the committee — Ikaika Anderson, Romy Cachola and Breene Hari­moto — all said they would not support it.

Berg said he is reworking the bill to make it more palatable for colleagues. "The deferral by no means says that this is over," he said, adding that he still feels strongly about the Humane Society making some kind of notification before killing animals.

Officials with the Hawaiian Humane Society testified that the bill was unnecessary and could lead to overcrowding and possibly the euthanization of more animals. The bill calls for the Humane Society to notify a registry of shelters and the public, and then give them at least five days to adopt a cat or dog before it can be killed. Animals deemed ill or dangerous could be killed sooner.