STAND. COM. REP. NO. 15

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 30

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 30 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to improve public safety and animal welfare by restricting the practice of animal tethering.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by two organizations and thirteen public citizens.  One organization supported the intent of the measure.

     Under present law, dogs may be tethered for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to a stationary object as long as the tether is at least six feet long.  Continuously tethered dogs become lonely, bored, territorial, and aggressive.  Researchers have found that tethered dogs are nearly three times more likely to bite and over five times more likely to bite children.

     Additionally, a tether can become tangled around or hooked on the dog's shelter structure or other objects, further restricting the dog's movement and potentially causing injury.  Dogs are pack animals and are naturally social.  Tethered dogs live an isolated existence that is contrary to their own instincts, and this lack of socialization is part of what makes tethered dogs more dangerous.

     Your Committee has heard from one public citizen who witnessed neighbors who kept two dogs tethered by ropes tied to trees in their front yard.  The neighbor had been burglarized, and the dogs were a security measure.  When the public citizen called the Hawaiian Humane Society for assistance, the Hawaiian Humane Society informed the public citizen that Hawaii law did not prevent the neighbors from keeping the dogs tethered.  The dogs could not interact with each other because the tether was too short, and in time they grew despondent and died.  The public citizen supports this measure for the welfare of dogs, and for the helpless neighbors forced to watch the abuse of animals.

     Your Committee, however, recognizes that there are enforcement challenges for the Hawaiian Humane Society and economic hardships imposed by this measure.  In light of these issues, your Committee encourages the proponents of the measure to collaborate with other parties to resolve differences in crafting amendments for this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending the effective date to July 1, 2050 for the purpose of furthering discussion;

     (2)  Adding a sunset date of June 30, 2014; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of style and clarity.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 30, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 30, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair