STAND. COM. REP. NO. 474

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1533

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 1533 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRUELTY TO ANIMALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that peacocks are not "pests" for purposes of cruelty to animals in the second degree under section 711-1109(1)(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, the Hawaiian Humane Society, and the Hawaii Island Humane Society.

     Your Committee finds that the law regarding animal cruelty should be clarified.  The references to pests and vermin within section 711-1109(1)(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, are ambiguous in that a person charged with cruelty to animals in the second degree may essentially blame the "victim" by convincing a judge or jury that an animal's behavior made it a pest within the meaning of the statute, thereby avoiding conviction.  Nevertheless, your Committee agrees with the testimony submitted regarding this measure that it is unnecessary for the statute to be so specific as to list every animal that could be deemed a pest.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Replacing the existing reference to "vermin or other pests" in section 711-1109(1)(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, with "rodents";

     (2)  Limiting the exception of "insects and rodents" in section 711-1109(1)(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, by requiring that any insects or rodents are handled in accordance with standard and acceptable rodent control practices;

     (3)  Deleting the specific references to peacocks;

     (4)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1533, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1533, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair