STAND. COM. REP. NO. 996

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1022

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1022, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMAL ENDANGERMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit intentionally leaving or confining pet animals in a vehicle under conditions that endanger their health, safety, or well-being;

(2) Allow law enforcement officers, animal control officers, and firefighters to enter an unattended vehicle to protect the health, safety, or well-being of a pet animal that is endangered by being left or confined in an unattended vehicle; and

(3) Allow private citizens to rescue a pet animal that has been left in an unattended vehicle under certain circumstances.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Rights Hawaiʻi, and eight individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Honolulu Police Department.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that many animals lose their lives each year when their owners leave them alone in parked vehicles in extreme temperatures. Many owners are unaware that even on a temperate day, the inside of a parked vehicle can reach extreme temperatures within minutes. Additionally, while humans can cool themselves through an extensive system of sweat glands and evaporations, animals have a harder time staying cool, leaving them extremely vulnerable to heat stroke. This measure will protect the health, safety, and welfare of animals left in unattended vehicles under unsafe conditions.

Your Committee notes that the existing offense of cruelty to animals in the second degree under section 711-1109(e), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), may already be used in the circumstances prohibited by this measure. Your Committee further notes that section 711-1109(e), HRS, contains broader wording to address a variety of circumstances that may result in harm to an animal, while also including the states of mind of "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly", whereas this measure is limited to "intentionally". Additionally, section 711-1109(e), HRS, is not limited to the protection of "pet animals" but rather aims to protect every living creature, except a human being.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have prohibited intentionally leaving or confining pet animals in a vehicle under conditions that endanger their health, safety, or well-being;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

(3) 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 that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1022, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1022, S.D. 2.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair