Report Title:

Cruelty to Animals; Snaring

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, snares, poisons, and unattended traps are sometimes used by state agencies and private individuals and groups for the control of game animal populations, especially under circumstances in which those populations are suspected or known to interfere with endangered species management; and

WHEREAS, death of the trapped or poisoned animal is often slow and painful, from shock, dehydration, starvation, and infection; and

WHEREAS, because those control methods are not specific management tools, animal species other than those intended may also be maimed or killed; and

WHEREAS, at present, other more humane and effective population control alternatives, including hunting, are not fully utilized; and

WHEREAS, inhumane treatment of one animal species for the sake of protecting others is exceptionally cruel and unconscionable; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is urged to identify alternatives, including hunting, to the use of snares, poisons, and unattended traps for the control of game animal populations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DLNR shall convene a working group of landowners, hunting organizations, and animal welfare groups to assist in identifying alternatives, including hunting, to the use of snares, poisons, and unattended traps for the control of game animal populations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2002, DLNR shall report to the Legislature on its recommendations for alternative means for the control of game animals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Hawaii Hunting Advisory Council, the Hawaii Hunting Association, Pig Hunters of Hawaii, Hawaiian Humane Society, Animal Rights Hawaii, and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.