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Stricter stray-
dog penalties
pending

A bill in Council would
increase fines and jail terms
for violators

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Repeat offenders of Honolulu's stray-dog ordinance would see a bigger bite out of their pocketbooks under a bill introduced at the City Council.

Under the proposal, a dog owner would be fined:

$50 if the owner had not been found guilty of violating the ordinance during the previous two years.

$100 if an owner had been fined or jailed within two years.

Between $500 and $1,000, jailed for up to 30 days, or both if an owner had been found guilty of the ordinance two or more times during the previous two years.

An owner's previous offenses, according to the bill, would include those involving different dogs.

Currently, the owner of a dog that has become a stray is fined up to $50 and faces imprisonment of no more than 30 days.

But Pamela Burns, executive director of the Hawaiian Humane Society, said the Hawaii judiciary has "administratively assigned" the penalty at $20 regardless of the number of previous offenses.

The Hawaiian Humane Society is under contract by the city to seize and impound stray dogs, which are defined as dogs on the premises of property not belonging to the owner without consent, or on public streets or other public places without a leash.

Councilwoman Rene Mansho said she introduced the measure at the request of the Humane Society, which brought up the stray-dog issue during a recent hearing on a proposed ordinance that would apply more stringent fines on the owners of barking dogs.

Burns said that the stray-dog issue is a more serious one than the barking-dog discussion because the latter deals only with nuisance.

A stricter stray-dog law would make it safer for dogs and people since the actions of strays can result in serious injury to dogs, pedestrians and motorists, she said.

Last year, the Humane Society received 3,801 loose-dog complaints and issued 301 leash law violations.

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City & County of Honolulu