[1/30/20] A bill allowing the Hawaiian Humane Society to shorten the length of time it must keep a microchipped cat or dog to five days from nine days before deciding whether to euthanize it won final approval from the City Council Wednesday despite lingering protests from advocates of a no-kill policy.
Bill 59 (2019), which won approval 8-0, also would require that all registered pet cats and dogs be microchipped, which the Humane Society believes would make it easier to return lost animals to their owners.
The bill also makes a number of other changes
that HHS staff describes as necessary to bring Oahu’s animal ordinance —
and
its contract with the city — in line with animal welfare best practices
nationally. The bill now goes to Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who is expected to
sign it. If it becomes law, it would take effect July 1.
The biggest opposition Wednesday continued to deal with
the reduction in mandatory minimum hold times to five days for
those animals with identification. (Animals without IDs of any sort are
subject to only a 48-hour hold period under the current law, and that
won’t change under the bill.)
Humane Society officials said 90% of stray animals
retrieved are back with their owners in five days. Reducing the hold
time would give the animals less stress and allow those not claimed but
are healthy to be adopted more quickly, they said.
But critics continued to slam the plan, arguing that it
doesn’t give enough time for owners to save their
animals. Sharon Williams, vice president of Kat Charities, said her
daughter recently found five kittens near their house and turned them
into the Humane
Society after being assured they would be reunited
with their mother, who apparently had been captured the previous day.
Within an hour, Kat Charities attempted to get the kittens back but were told there were none, Williams said. Two days later,
“we did hear back and unfortunately all five kittens were euthanized,” she said.
“HHS
is a known, high-kill shelter and reducing the number of (hold) days is
not going to save lives, it’s going to cost more lives,” she said.
Kasey Carter, the Hawaiian Humane Society’s
chief veterinarian, said
he could not speak to the specifics of Williams’ account although it
appears they were not microchipped and therefore not required to be held
nine days.
A five-day hold will help animals that are brought in with injuries more quickly, Carter said. A dog taken to the shelter Tuesday night that sustained two broken legs after being hit by a car could not be helped immediately except for providing it food, liquids and painkillers, because the law says HHS cannot do anything invasive unless it is obvious the animal would otherwise die, Carter said.
A five-day hold will help animals that are brought in with injuries more quickly, Carter said. A dog taken to the shelter Tuesday night that sustained two broken legs after being hit by a car could not be helped immediately except for providing it food, liquids and painkillers, because the law says HHS cannot do anything invasive unless it is obvious the animal would otherwise die, Carter said.
Moving to a five-day hold would allow HHS to take ownership more quickly and then administer aide more quickly, Carter said.
Mililani pet shop owner Ricky Baker said he objects to
requiring animals to be microchipped. “Laws should not be passed that
dictate when medical procedures should be performed on pets,” Baker
said.
“Registering a pet with a private chip company can be
burdensome and costly, and problematic, especially if we’re talking
about puppies that are 12 weeks old,” Baker said.
Pushing
for a five-day minimum hold period does not help the pet owners’
perception of the Humane Society, he said. Instead of penalizing owners
who lose their pets, he said, the organization should focus more on
educating pet owners about the benefits of registering their animals.
Alicia Maluafiti, founder of Poi Dogs and Popoki, urged
Council members to discard the bill and work with all the interested
parties in coming up with legislation more amenable to the different
sides. She
said she is encouraged
that there appears to be
a new generation of pet owners and animal advocates skeptical about
HHS’s policies but are willing to work with the agency for improvements
that would help the welfare of the animals.
Councilwoman Ann
Kobayashi, who authored the bill, said current HHS officials acknowledge
that some of its previous practices may have been questionable but that
it’s doing better under new leadership. Kobayashi inserted language
requiring HHS to report its euthanasia numbers although it already does
so.
Numbers provided by the Hawaiian Humane Society show
the number of dogs and cats that are brought in and subsequently
euthanized has dropped significantly since 1993 while the percentage of
pets returned has climbed.
Other key provisions of the bill:
>> Gives HHS the authority to spay or neuter dogs brought in as strays three times within a 12-month period.
>> Requires owners of dogs found strayed three times within a year to pay
a $30 fee.
>> Raises the mandatory hold fee to $10 a day
(after the initial 24 hours) from $2.50 a day. The fee was last
increased in 1983.
[12/18/19] A Honolulu City Council committee Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require registered pet dogs and cats to be microchipped and would shorten the minimum time that strays need to be held by the Hawaiian Humane Society to five days from the current nine.
After winning unanimous approval Tuesday from the Council Parks, Community Services and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, Bill 59 now goes to the full Council for the second of three votes. It will make a return trip to the parks committee for further refinement before a final vote.
Bill 59 is supported by the Humane Society, which contends that the changes bring a more modern and thoughtful approach to animal control laws.
Pet store owners say the measure cedes too much control to the organization.
Current city law says a dog 4 months or older must be licensed and receive a dog tag that costs $10 if the animal is sterilized, $28.50 if not sterilized. The license must be renewed every two years. There is currently no licensing for cats, although the owner of a cat that is expected to spend time outdoors is supposed to be microchipped.
Under the bill, the dog tag system would be replaced by a microchip registration process that would apply to both dogs and cats.
Stephanie Kendrick, public policy advocate for the Hawaiian Humane Society, said a microchip can easily be found for under $25 and that the Kapahulu nonprofit will do it for $20. There would be no need for a renewal, although a change in ownership or ownership information would require an update.
Kendrick said the proposed changes are backed up by research into the best practices for handling animals in sheltered environments. Switching to a microchip-based system on the mainland has led to a spike in pet licenses of as much as 300%, she said.
Councilwoman Kymberly Pine said her constituents are uncomfortable with the reduction in the hold time to five days. Pets are “family to some people,” she said.
Kendrick said “short shelter stays for pets actually lead to better outcomes for them by reducing the time that they’re spending in a stressful environment, which can cause illness and distress.” More important, the shorter hold time means animals not reclaimed by their owners are made available for adoption more quickly.
Under the bill, once minimum hold times are reached, the Humane Society can allow the person who released the animal to the contractor to redeem the animal, offer the animal up for adoption or euthanize it.
Animals with no identification of any sort are subject to only a 48-hour hold period under the current law, and that won’t change under the bill.
Kendrick said nearly 90% of the stray animals with an ID that are brought to the Humane Society go home within five days.
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12/11/19 - Stephanie Kendrick on Bill 59
12/18/19 - Ginny Tiu on Bill 59
11/27/19 - Alicia Maluafiti on Bill 59
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