Creating a dedicated agency to oversee animal control services on Hawaii Island will be considered Tuesday by County Council members.
The proposal to establish an Animal Control and Protection Agency within the county’s executive branch comes as the Hawaii Police Department nears wrapping up a second year overseeing animal control services under a pilot program that began in July 2021.
The police department assumed the duties after the county terminated its contract with Hawaii Rainbow Rangers in the wake of a litany of concerns. The rangers took over animal control services after long-time contract holder Hawaii Island Humane Society declined to bid for the contract in 2020.
The county, under Hawaii County Code and state law, is required to feed and shelter impounded dogs, cats, and domesticated animals. This includes dogs confiscated under the county’s dangerous dog law.
“Putting animal control under HPD was a pilot project, and everybody has consensus that it did not work as well as we would like it to with that arrangement. And, the solution, really, is to create an agency within the administration to be responsible for animal control,” said Heather Kimball, chairperson of the Hawaii County Council who represents the Hamakua District. “This bill was a collaborative effort between the Mayor’s Office, Finance, HPD, Corporation Counsel and (Kohala) Council member (Cindy) Evans and I.”
Bill 22 simply establishes the agency, and does not set animal-related policies, said Kimball.
“This is the first step in trying to address animal control in a productive and constructive way as a county and there are more pieces of this that council member Evans and I will be working on in the future, but for right now, we felt it was important to create this agency,” she said. “I just want folks to know that by creating this agency, all of our animal control problems will not be solved overnight — this is just the first step and there’s lots more work to do.”
The agency, as currently proposed in Bill 22, would comprise an “animal control and protection administrator” and necessary staff, all under the direct supervision of the county managing director. The $2 million in funding and positions currently allocated for animal control services in the police department would be transferred to the agency, Kimball said.
The goal is to have animal control services out of the police department by the start of the next fiscal year on July 1, but doing so means getting the bill through both committee hearings in February to ensure the agency is included in the upcoming budget that’ll come out March 1.
“We understand and appreciate the importance of animal control services within each of our communities and we are optimistic that Bill 22 will be well-received at Council,” said Kimball. “The goal is to pass this bill in time to have the newly proposed agency funded in this year’s County budget so it can quickly and properly address these important animal control concerns of our community.”
Bill 22 will be heard Tuesday, Feb. 7, by the Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs in Hilo Council Chambers with videoconferencing to Kona Council Chambers. Public testimony can be offered at those locations as well as the Pahoa Council Office and via Zoom. The meeting will also be livestreamed for public viewing via hawaiicounty.gov. Written testimony is due by noon Monday.
Kimball said the most helpful input from the public at this point in the process is details on successful models that have been implemented in other jurisdictions.
“I know there’s very passionate people involved in this issue and we want to take in all of that input but at the same time I want folks to know what a complicated issue this is to address from the legislative standpoint and that’s why we got to do it step-by-step and this first step is probably the most critical to create this independent entity that will be fully responsible for these activities and then we’ll go from there and address these policies,” said Kimball.
The Hawaii Police Department currently manages two animal shelter facilities on the island, one in East Hawaii and one in West Hawaii. Both shelters have remained full, with many animals getting transferred to nonprofit organizations for adoption.
As of the most recent shelter report posted on the police department’s website, the department reported taking in 196 animals in December 2022, 168 of which were dogs and 22 were cats. Thirty-three were returned to their owner while 60 were transferred to organizations for adoption. Ten of the animals taken in died. During December, 14 cats, 102 dogs, one pig and one sheep/goat were euthanized; none at the request of an owner.