Question: Can anyone explain why our government is reluctant to remove feral chickens that move into our community (for example, at Kaiser and McKinley high schools, UH Manoa, etc.)? They spread diseases, make unacceptable noise, etc. If I were to abandon a couple goats on the UH Manoa campus, will they be allowed to thrive and even multiply on the grounds? What’s the difference then in how we address a goat problem from a chicken problem? They’re both farm animals.
Answers: Lately we’ve heard more complaints about feral chickens on state property, such as public schools, than we have about feral chickens on city property, such as in parks. That’s anecdotal, but it might reflect that the municipal government makes it easy to report nuisance chickens on any city property via the Department of Customer Services; the city also helps pay for private-property owners to remove feral chickens. By contrast, people concerned about feral chickens on state land are told to complain to the agency overseeing the property. We know from past questions that removal efforts often are based on complaints. For more information, including about determining land oversight, go to 808ne.ws/3R8pQBS Opens in a new tab.
There are at least two bills alive in the state Legislature aimed at lowering Hawaii’s feral chicken population, including one, House Bill 980, HD 1 (808ne.ws/3DCgBH9 Opens in a new tab), which has a public hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. today in Conference Room 224 and remotely, according to capitol. hawaii.gov Opens in a new tab. The hearing is before the Committee on Agriculture and Environment.
This bill would amend a state law that prohibits the “taking, injuring or destroying” of wild birds to exempt feral chickens on private property, allowing them to be killed with the “express written permission” of the property owner.
The bill describes feral chickens as a persistent nuisance and health threat in residential areas, including as potential carriers of H5N1 avian influenza. The original version listed poisoning while caged, decapitation and drowning as acceptable methods of death, but that language was deleted from the amended bill, which allows any manner of death not prohibited by law, “including methods that adhere to standard veterinary guidelines for euthanasia of chickens and are consistent with the American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines for Euthanasia of Animals.”
Most public testimony as of Thursday opposed the bill, including that of the Hawaiian Humane Society, the animal law enforcement contractor for Oahu’s municipal government, which said, “We know of no instances of property owners being prosecuted for lethal control of feral chickens on their property”; that state law allows licensed pest control companies to control feral chickens; and that “allowing property owners to kill feral chickens by methods involving close contact with the animals could increase” risks of avian flu. “A far more impactful response to avian flu would be to shut down cockfighting operations and the breeding of roosters on agricultural lands,” wrote Stephanie Kendrick, the nonprofit’s director of community engagement.
Another bill, HB 1389, HD 1 (808ne.ws/3DHYwY2 Opens in a new tab), would appropriate state funds to expand the City and County of Honolulu’s feral chicken program and to establish a statewide public education campaign about feeding feral animals. The bill doesn’t say how much money would be granted to the city, which now relies on city funds to offset the price private property owners pay to remove feral chickens, through a contract with Sandwich Isle Pest Solutions. (The city also controls feral chickens on its own property.)
HB 1389, HD 1, made it from the House to the Senate, where it passed first reading and has been referred to the Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs/Health and Human Services joint committee and the Ways and Means Committee. No hearing dates were posted as of Thursday.
Most testimony submitted as of Thursday supports the bill, including that of Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, who wrote that “the feral chicken and rooster populations in Hawai‘i have skyrocketed and have become an ever-increasing problem. Aside from roosters crowing in the hours before dawn, the feral chickens damage crops, spread weeds, threaten native plants, and are a road hazard. The noise, health issues, and environmental damage from feral chickens have become major concerns and need to be controlled.”
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
