The Hawaii Police Department has requested $2 million from the county to purchase a new animal shelter in Puna in order to improve its animal control capabilities.
Since HPD took over animal control responsibilities last July, following the county’s termination of previous contractor Hawaii Rainbow Rangers, their capacity to respond to calls about animals has been limited, said Maj. Aimee Wana at a Wednesday meeting of the County Council.
In particular, Wana said the lack of available facilities to house animals in East Hawaii has kept the department from responding to all but the most serious of calls.
Priority one calls — involving injured animals, animals that present a public safety risk, or animal cruelty — will elicit an HPD response, but the department cannot respond to lower-priority calls as efficiently.
The county currently is leasing an animal shelter facility in Volcano that contains only 21 kennels, Wana said. Because the county’s lease for that site ends in June, she said the department needs to find new space soon.
County Finance Director Deanna Sako said the county is in negotiations to acquire a kennel facility in Puna pending a funding appropriation to the department.
Although Sako did not specify the location of the facility, documents submitted in advance of the council meeting indicate it would be located on 35th Avenue in Orchid Land Estates, on three 2-acre parcels.
Sako said HPD was requesting $2 million to purchase the facility, with any funds left over to be used for necessary improvements to the property or for the animal program itself.
“There is some cesspool remediation that we would have to do in order to comply with the law,” Sako said, adding that the size of the parcels will allow the facility to be expanded in the future.
Sako added that the funds would primarily benefit animal control activities on the east side of the island because there are already multiple kennel facilities in West Hawaii available to the county.
The council supported the allocation, voting unanimously in favor of the first reading of a bill authorizing the release of the funds. Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder noted that it has been clear for years that East Hawaii’s animal control facilities are deficient compared to West Hawaii. West Hawaii has one county-owned facility located near the Kealakehe Transfer Station.
Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder had some concerns about the location of the new facility being within a residential subdivision, saying that residents often complain about kennel noise, but supported the proposal nonetheless.
With the bill having passed its first reading, the council will vote on its final reading at its next meeting.
Wana said that although the new facility would improve HPD’s ability to carry out its animal control responsibilities, the department has successfully acclimated to those new duties.
“We were able to rescue a dog that was trapped in a lava crack in Mountain View or Volcano. We were able to rescue a calf that was trapped in a bay up Hamakua,” Wana said. “We’ve had a lot of success stories so far.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
