Shorter quarantine The state Board of Agriculture is poised to reduce the amount of time an animal has to spend in quarantine to five days from 30.
for pets is poised
for state approval
The rabies prevention program
would drop to five days from 30By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com
State Agriculture Chairwoman Sandra Lee Kunimoto has said that under the proposed changes "for the first time since before statehood, people will be able to travel with their pets to Hawaii without the hassle and heartache of quarantine."
Under the state's proposal, quarantine fees would be $225 for the five-day quarantine and $165 for pets released to owners at the airport. Fees would remain $1,080 for 120 days and $655 for 30 days.
The waiting period an animal would have to undergo after being inoculated against rabies and before coming to Hawaii is now 90 days for the 30-day quarantine option. The pre-arrival waiting time would be extended to 120 days under the new rules. Releasing pets at the airport would require documentation of the pet's vaccinations getting to Hawaii before the animal, officials say.
But the new rules being considered today by the state Board of Agriculture don't go far enough to lighten the burden on people who want to bring pets to Hawaii, a spokeswoman for the Community Quarantine Reform Coalition said.
The rules are a "cruel pretender" to lessening quarantine time, since most people moving here -- especially military families -- don't have that much lead time before their move, said Chris Quackenbush.
Others who share her view planned to rally this morning in front of the building where the Board of Agriculture was to consider the proposed changes.
About 4,600 animals went through quarantine last year, an increase by 400 from 2001.
Quarantine for animals arriving here began in 1912, when rabies became endemic in California. State officials feared cats and dogs imported from that state could transmit the disease in Hawaii.
Animals with two current vaccinations, a microchip identification implant and a blood test could safely be brought in without a waiting period, Quackenbush said.
State Sen. Fred Hemmings (R, Kailua-Waimanalo), a co-sponsor of failed legislation that would have shortened quarantine stays, said the state bureaucracy "wants to continue to collect a lot of money for work that doesn't need to be done."
State Department of Agriculture