The state Senate on Tuesday passed dozens of bills on mandatory third reading, a key step before becoming law, but senators rejected one contested measure that aimed to combat an increase in animal cruelty cases in Hawaii.
While measures that passed include a farm-to-school meal program, acquiring Bethel Block for affordable housing, and criminal justice reform, House Bill 1580 — which would classify cruelty to animals in the first degree as a class B felony — failed to pass third reading.
According to the bill, there has been an increase in animal cruelty cases in Hawaii as the Honolulu Police Department counted 73 animal cruelty crimes in 2023, 15 more than the cases in 2018.
Following the April 2023 cockfight in Maili that resulted in a shooting that killed two people and injured three, the Legislature said, “The prevalence of animal cruelty crimes in the state and its correlation with other serious violent crimes warrants increased penalties for offenders.”
However, state Sen. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards III (D, North Hilo-Waimea-North Kona) said while he understands the intent of the bill, he worries that animal agriculture will be simultaneously affected.
“As the state is striving towards food self-reliance, food security, the availability of protein is exceedingly important,” Richards said.
State Sen. Lynn Decoite (D, East and Upcountry Maui-Molokai-Lanai) also opposed the bill, saying it could negatively affect animal owners and ranchers.
“While it can be beneficial in deterring animal cruelty, it could also lead to harsher consequences for individuals who may inadvertently violate the law or engage in practices that are considered standard in their industries such as certain methods of animal handling or husbandry,” Decoite said.
The bill includes provisions that restrict certain practices such as tethering or restraining dogs in certain manners, which may be commonly used by ranchers or animal owners for managing their livestock or pets.
“There may be increased regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions targeted at animal owners, including ranchers; this could lead to additional administrative burdens, compliance costs and potential legal liabilities for individuals and businesses involved in animal husbandry,” Decoite said.
Decoite told the Senate floor that a woman’s chickens were attacked by a dog last week and 45 of them died. She also raises egg-layers and has been producing eggs for Molokai, so she shot the dog to protect her lifestyle and has been accused of cruelty to animals.
“While some say self-defense, she now has to go to court to prove that it was not intentional,” Decoite said.
Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe-Iroquois Point) said “beating a dog to death” is considered animal cruelty, but the bill specifies “animal,” which could interfere with lifestyles such as family luaus.
“How did you think the pig got to the table? It didn’t fall out and be kalua pig,” Fevella said. “It was a process of doing that meal by grabbing the pig, stabbing them in the throat, killing them, draining the blood, and then some people use the blood to eat and enjoy the meal.”
He said he’s stabbed pigs on multiple occasions for family traditions — he did it as a groom on his wedding day and as a father during his child’s first luau.
“We grew up in Hawaii, that’s the multicultural thing that we lived in,” Fevella said. “But now society, when is it going to stop telling us what is the lines that we cannot cross? What is the barriers that we should not go across?
“You get caught gambling in Hawaii, misdemeanor. But you go ahead and stab a pig in the neck, felony. What is the (fairness) in that?”
Fevella also opposed a similar bill, HB 1980 — which creates a statutory prohibition against bird fighting that carries a felony — that failed to pass third reading Tuesday.
He said that the language of the bill is broad enough to criminalize anybody that is in possession of a bird, penalizing “law-abiding citizens.”
“I can understand if you are getting caught in the act of chicken fighting or cockfighting,” Fevella said. “But now you are jeopardizing the feed stores, the mom and pop stores that sell feed and vitamins and all these other things that people do to breed the birds.”
However, Hawaiian Humane Society’s Director of Community Engagement Stephanie Kendrick told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the “comments made by the folks who are voting no on the bills weren’t actually relevant to their contents.”
“The bills have nothing to do with food sustainability, livestock, husbandry practices or any of that,” Kendrick said. “So it’s disappointing that our lawmakers didn’t stand up to prevent violence against animals in our communities.”
Kendrick also said that HB 1980 exclusively talks about cockfighting and has no implications for poultry producers, egg producers and collecting chickens as a hobby.
“None of that would’ve been impacted by the bill, despite the opponents saying that the bill would hurt people who want to keep chickens just because they like them,” Kendrick said.
Two other bills — HB 1527 and HB 2058 — that Kendrick advocated for passed third reading Tuesday.
HB 1527 prohibits people without a veterinarian license from performing surgical procedures on pet animals, and considers a violation a misdemeanor.
Through HB 2058, owners of dogs that cause serious injury or death could face felony charges instead of petty misdemeanors.
“We still have two bills that are alive this session, and we hope that our lawmakers will stand up and support them,” Kendrick said.
Other bills that passed third reading include
HB 2803, which would require the State Department of Education to promote schools in achieving the local farm-to-school meal target of 30% locally sourced food and encouraging plant-based diets.
“We believe that a variety of diets can exist and that plant-based meals can be offered without the disparaging language towards cattle and beef,” The Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council said in written testimony to HB 2803.
Fevella said he supports the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council’s testimony and wants to find a way to support plant-based meals along with local meat consumption.
The bill would also establish a plant-based meal pilot program at Mililani High School.
Richards said in opposition to HB 2803 that children must rely on nutrient-dense proteins for healthy brain development.
“I support the side of local farming production and purchasing from local, but to be plant-based, I cannot support that,” Richards said.
Another bill that passed third hearing, HB 2328, would allow the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. to convert existing commercial spaces in three Chinatown buildings to residential use.
The state would acquire the Ohia Building, the Blaisdell Building and the Whitlow Building that sit between Bethel Street, Pauahi Street, Fort Street and Chaplain Lane — also known as “Bethel Block” — to “facilitate the growth of the State’s inventory of affordable housing units,” according to the bill.
HB 1604, which also passed third hearing, would allow the court to order substance abuse assessment and treatment of a defendant before trial.
Under the bill, instead of expending funds to arrest a parolee who has tested positive for drug or alcohol use and holding a hearing on whether parole should be revoked based on the positive test, “funds should be reinvested in employment, housing, social services, and community-based
treatment programs that more effectively reduce
recidivism.”
