 Welcome viewers to thinktechhawaii.com. My show is The Will of the People, and I am your host, Martha E. Randolph. Today's show is a follow-up to our October discussions with Stephanie Kendrick from the Humane Society of Hawaii. And it is all about the current legislative issues and bills that they feel are most important right now to keep protecting our pets and all animals in Hawaii. Stephanie is the public policy advocate for the Hawaiian Humane Society and has been with them since 2016. She's a pet owner and a foster parent for animals who need temporary housing. We encourage all of you to join in that job. Welcome, Stephanie, and thank you for coming in today. Martha, thanks so much. It's always great to be on the show. Oh, it's fun. Listen, I know it may be short notice for people, but let's talk about the bills which are coming up because I think they're being discussed tomorrow. We do. And we need people to show up to support these bills. So let's tell them everything we know about them. And everybody, please remember that even if you don't show up tomorrow, these bills may be coming up again and again. So keep in touch with the Humane Society about this. Anyway, let's start with the one that you think is most important. So we have a huge hearing tomorrow. It's got nine animal welfare bills, I think, on the agenda. So yeah, it's going to be a really interesting day covering a wide range of issues. The bill that the Hawaiian Humane Society is championing this session is our pet friendly dining bill, which was introduced in the House by Representative John Mizuno. And this is a bill that's really about more than just the delight of getting to have dinner with your dog. It's really about what kind of a community do we want to be. And the Hawaiian Humane Society has long advocated for the integration of our pets into our daily lives. And so this is a step in that direction. It's a step toward a more pet friendly community. OK, and I believe there are built into the bill restrictions for people who are concerned. They say, well, I'm afraid of dogs, or I think it's unhealthy to eat with dogs. It's not a free reign. There are limitations. So do you want to tell them about that, or just have them read up on their own, right? Sure, no, I'm happy to share with that. The bill number, if you want to read up on it, on your own is HB 681. You can find the text of it on the legislature's website. But there are provisions in the bill that have to do with public health and safety. And most importantly, what I try and communicate to people is the bill just permits restaurant owners to adopt pet friendly policies. It doesn't require them to do anything. So fundamentally, it would be up to the restaurant to decide how they best want to serve their customers. And if the majority of their customers don't want to be bothered with having dogs around, well, then they probably wouldn't adopt the policy. So it really just gives them the discretion to make that decision. But the bill does include things like the pets have to stay either leased or confined. They have to stay off the furniture. There are provisions that take care of the primary complaints that you would hear from people who don't want to be bothered by animals. The animals aren't supposed to interact with anyone unless that person approaches and asks to interact with the animal. So we did put a lot of thought into public health and safety when we crafted the rules. And the other point of it is that there's a posting requirement. So not only are there rules, but the rules have to be posted at the restaurant, any entrance to the restaurant, so that pet owners are aware of what the expectations are before they even go in. People who are concerned will know what their rights are. Yes. I think that's excellent. There are, however, other bills, some of them which I seem to remember have been there before and maybe didn't get through and some which concern me deeply. Let's talk about HB 200 and a few of the others. So HB 200 is the tethering bill. And as you probably remember, Martha, because you've been an animal advocate for a long time, we were very close at the end of the last legislative session to passing that measure. And it did die pretty much at the last minute. So we are very much hoping that this is the year that it gets through. It's been four years that we've been advocating for basically this legislation. And what it does is it restricts the kind of tethering equipment and techniques that you can use to confine a dog so that the dog's safety is accounted for. So you can't use equipment to confine a dog that's gonna be left alone that the dog might be able to injure themselves with. It's very clean bill. There's been no public opposition. And we're really hoping this is the year that we'll get it passed. Oh, so okay, with no opposition, do you know why it didn't get all the way through? Why it died? I don't, you know, sometimes it just comes down to lawmakers have priorities that they consider to be more important. Okay, all right. And what about some of the others? I think, I like HB 930, a great deal. I've been waiting for something like this. Let's talk about that one. So HB 930 was introduced by Representative Chris Lee and it's modeled off of California's recent law that says that retail pet stores can only obtain the animals they're going to sell from shelters or rescues. So that's where the law starts. The law also has a record keeping component that we think is really exciting because right now the pet sales trade in Hawaii is completely unregulated. And what this measure would do is force retailers if they are going to sell pet animals to keep a record of where those animals were obtained and that could have a real benefit for animal welfare. Okay, now you just said something interesting which is a little bit different from what I had written down. You written down, it says from humane, certain humane sources. You mentioned pet care like the Humane Society, the Oahu ASPCA and things of that nature. Does it not allow a pet store to sell animals from a reputable or certified breeder? Yeah, it doesn't. Breeders are not allowed as a sales source under the bill. But I will point out that Hawaii actually doesn't have any sort of regulation for breeders. So it would be difficult to have a provision that said reputable breeder because there's no way to know. Right, and I believe, am I correct in thinking that when I came here I was told that there were animals being imported from New Zealand and Australia or something from puppy mills because those countries did not have rabies and they could get the animals in. But of course puppy mills anywhere in the world, animal mills where animals are kept in cages and forced to breed, not only does it lead to unhealthy animals and sending them all the way over here from Australia is pretty horrific as a concept, but we don't wanna support that in the first place. Right, and it is still legal to bring in puppies from those countries. Are there many pet stores that are doing that because I'm happy to say that the pet stores I frequent do bring their, get animals from you guys from the humane society? Yeah, so most pet stores in Hawaii no longer sell pet animals, you know, or they're giving them from rescues, but there are a few that still sell puppies and kittens that are obtained from, we don't know where. Yeah, okay, well, I mean, I would like to see that rule put in because we certainly have a large number of adoptable animals and the people who do breed them here will advertise in the paper and maybe that's something that can be looked at at another time because, you know. And I think, not to interrupt you, I'm sorry, Martha, but I think most, part of almost the definition of being a responsible breeder is wanting to make sure that your animals are going to an appropriate home. So I don't know of any breeders who I would consider responsible who are not selling the animals directly. I mean, they want to be able to meet the families and see what the situation is. Because the pet store does not have that requirement. Right, so I don't think this is really cutting off an opportunity for our responsible breeders. What does the Humane Society do when somebody sees one of their pets at a pet store and wants to adopt it? How does the Humane Society exercise that care to make sure that the adopting person is not going to abuse that animal? In fact, I wondered about that just in general because usually you don't have somebody doing a search on you. But then most people don't actually go out of their way to adopt an animal unless they really want to. Nevertheless, there are some people out there who have ulterior motives. So is there any way to check that? Is there anyone besides reputable breeders who are in a position to check that out? Well, we're not going into people's homes, obviously. We do have a screening process. Our adoption staff is trained to ask questions to make people understand the animal's needs and are able to meet them. And so that's the approach we take is just to have that conversation with them. It's true because a lot of people don't realize the obligation that goes along with certain types of animals. A single older woman in a small apartment does not want to have a great dang. Actually, great dans are pretty lazy. Well, they are. And they're almost as tall as you are if they sit next to you. They're quite ergonomic. That's true, that's true. Well, I just have been an active dog, a terrier. Are those dogs that need to get out there, they will wreck the house, and then that dog only ends up coming back. That's one of the reasons we say that size limits are really not a good criteria for apartment fitness, because there are some small dogs who are very active and ill-suited to apartments whereas some large dogs like your great dane could be perfectly happy. If we have time, I'll tell you a story about a great dane I knew. And all of you guys, because everybody needs to laugh. Now, before we go into any kind of break, let's talk about HB 24, because I was shocked. I didn't even know it was an issue. And it is a difficult issue, but let's bring it to the attention of people who are watching this show. So HB 24 refers to animal sex abuse. And Hawaii is one of only five states that does not have a law in the books, specifically prohibiting the sexual abuse of animals. This is a measure that's come up before and typically it's never heard because people just don't wanna talk about it for understandable reasons. But it would be a helpful tool to have on the books. We can prosecute cases of the abuse of animals through our animal cruelty statute, but for those cases to move forward, there really needs to be evidence of physical harm. This law, if this law passes, it means that if we can just prove that the interaction happened, then that's sufficient. We don't have to prove that there was physical harm to the animal. So it would be in advance. I really respect Representative Cregan, who's the chair of the Agriculture Committee for putting this on the agenda tomorrow. And I hope this is the year that we can just move it through and put Hawaii on the same path as the 45 other states who have similar laws. You know, it's ironic. I would think an issue like this would unite everyone on both sides of the aisle because for the religious right, this is bestiality and it is distinctly against the Bible and other such things. And on the left for people who simply are compassionate to animals, that does harm the animal. So actually when you mentioned that, I would imagine that in any such case, there would be evidence of animal harm. Oh, well, certainly animals can't consent to any behavior like that. That's true. So there's an intrinsic harm. But I mean, well, we won't go into it in detail because this is not that kind of show. However, I do think that this is something, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to bring up a delicate point that maybe the Congress is too delicate to bring up for itself, this might be something to speak out about because it's abuse. It's abuse, pure and simple, and it has to be addressed. I just didn't even know it was an issue. And what about 716? I think that is also sounding familiar to me. Hasn't this been on the books for a while? And let's talk about that. So that would codify the administrative rules that were passed last year, banning the import of dangerous wild animals for circuses and fairs. We talked about that on your show back in October. And so those rules were passed. The governor signed them. We'd been fighting for them for four years, so it was a wonderful victory. Hawaii is now just the second state in the country to ban wild animal acts. What this would do is basically give the legislature's stamp of approval to that concept. So it would say the legislature says we absolutely think this was the right decision and this is Hawaii's policy. These animals should not be transported across an ocean to entertain crowds. Okay, so with or without this bill, is it still forbidden for that to happen? I'm not saying that it is forbidden. It's just this is broader language or better language and more positive language. Okay, so if they have to drop an issue because they've got a full plate, drop the one that just reinforces the one you've already passed guys, come on. Let's just move it along. There is also a bill I believe that you are in opposition to. Yeah, so let's talk about what that bill is and why you're in opposition to it. So HB 127 creates an extra sort of littering offense that would apply to pet waste. And we have a couple of problems with it. Obviously the Hawaiian Humane Society is always advocated for responsible pet ownership. So we are completely on board with the concept that people should be picking up after their animals. But there are county laws that require that already. And the state health department in fact has the ability in any situation where pet waste would pose a public health threat, they have the ability to deal with that now. So the bill is unnecessary, but the way it's written, the language is so broad that we're concerned that it could be used to penalize people who care for cat colonies, volunteers who go out and spend their own time and resources to stay in neuter cats that other people have abandoned and to make sure that they're fed and healthy and so on. And we don't want this law to be used to punish them for the good work that they're doing. So that's our main concern. We're gonna go to break now, but then I'm gonna come back to this because I do have some questions on it and we do have more time. So ladies and gentlemen, this is The Will of the People on thinktankowai.com. My guest, Stephanie, is from the Humane Society. We are talking about bills that are gonna be dealt with tomorrow. So please pay attention and enjoy your little break. I'm Jay Fidel of ThinkTek. Our flagship energy show among the six energy shows we have is Hawaii, The State of Clean Energy. It plays every Wednesday at 4 p.m. Come around and see us. Learn about energy, keep current on energy on thinktekowai.com. Hey, loha. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii airing every Wednesday here on ThinkTek Hawaii live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your coworkers safe, your family safe, to keep our community safe. We wanna teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me because Security Matters, aloha. Hi, everyone. This is Martha Randolph on The Will of the People. You are watching thinktekowai.com. My guest today is Stephanie Kendrick from the Hawaiian Humane Society and she is their legislative agenda specialist. And we are talking about the bills in the Hawaiian legislature that are going to be reviewed tomorrow morning at 8.30. We're going to give you that information because we would like you to show up and testify or support the ones that you agree with. So before we went to break and we'll come back to giving you that information. So listen for it. We were talking about the bill you oppose, which is HB127 because it creates a littering penalty, which actually there is already bills to address for people who leave doggy doodoo and kitty doodoo on the street or on public or private property. And the concern, I believe you expressed, is that that law, the way it's phrased right now, could be used against those people who take care of feral cat colonies even though they are not the owners of those animals. And of course the feral cat colony, you cannot control where they're going to do their business. So you can't clean it up even if you want to. I'm not sure how you would prosecute someone since that person could officially be recognized as not being their owner. And most cats, when they come to their people to be fed, do not poop where they're being fed. That's the nature of cats. They go elsewhere to do their business. So I'm not sure how anyone who feeds cats could be held responsible for what they do when the person's not around, when they do not actually own the animal. But could language be added that protected those people by saying that the ownership of any animal whose waste you are protesting must be proven? Uh-huh. Well, the difficulty with that is that one of the most important functions that volunteer cat colony caregivers serve is that they have the animal spade and neutered. That prevents them from breeding and creating more homeless cats. And in the process of getting the animal spade and neutered, they're typically microchipped to the person who brought them in. And under at least Oahu county law, if an animal is microchipped to you or just if you're providing care for it, you are the owner. Right. So even though people who care for colony cats aren't owners in the sense that pet owners would normally think of themselves, they are the owners in the eyes of the law. And so we don't want them to be punished for the extra responsibility they're taking to take care of the community. Okay, so which ladies and gentlemen, brings up another issue, which is if you transfer your responsibility for an animal to another person, regardless of the reason, you have to remind them or take steps to make sure that any information on their chip has been transferred to that other person or at least that your information has been taken off because otherwise, and I didn't realize this, you will then be held responsible. And I have certainly transferred ownership of several animals because I have adopted animals not through the Humane Society and sought homes for them and passed them along. And I actually had one animal that left me, left me and went across the street to the neighbors and as far as I know, he's still registered as my pet. He doesn't talk to me anymore, it's so sad. Anyway, updating microchip information is so important for so many reasons. I mean, it is the best way to get your animal back if you lose an animal. And so absolutely I would encourage anyone who's transferring ownership of an animal also to make sure that microchip information gets updated. Absolutely. So, but we were talking about the fact that the bills we've been mentioning are coming up tomorrow morning in the legislature. Now, Stephanie, tell these people how they can find out about it, how they can register if they need to register, where they need to go to show up and participate, and even if they have to register to participate or where they can find more information. So let's tell them right up. Sure, well, the Hawaii State Legislature actually has a wonderful website, hawaii.capital.gov and all of the information you need to attend the hearing is available there. The hearing tomorrow is in room 312 in the Capitol. It's at 8.30 in the morning. It's a hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture. And you do not have to register to participate. Although the easiest way to submit testimony on the state's website is to create an account. It's very simple one-time thing and then you can submit testimony at the push of a button for the rest of your life. You can also submit testimony via email to the committee that's hearing the measure. A great way to be informed about animal welfare legislation going forward is to join our community advocates email listserv. And to do that, you can just email advocacy at hawaiinhumain.org. And I send out regular updates regarding the measures that we're tracking, supporting, opposing what the rationale is. And we have a lively conversation with our community advocates about how they feel about these issues. It's a fun group of people to interact with if you're interested in animal welfare. Yeah, and by the way, I just wanna correct one thing, which is that website is www.capital.hawaii.gov. Thank you, Martha. And because it's very easy to get those exchanged because sometimes they are, it's very confusing. But please do this. First of all, if you register, then any time you hear any political information on this show and something you wanna speak up about, as Stephanie said, it's just a push of a button. And you can at least send them by email your two cents, whether they read it or not, you don't know, because not everybody can show up on a weekday at 8.30 in the morning at the legislature. But you can, even if it's just the count of emails, and you say, I am for this, and they count 50 or 100 pro emails, the numbers alone are going to help make a difference. Yeah, a couple of the things we really encourage people to do if you're gonna weigh in on animal welfare or any other issue is just a sentence or two is fine. If it's personal and heartfelt about why you care about this issue and also always give your name and your neighborhood, because politicians respond to their constituents. So if you live in an area they represent, that's going to mean even more to them. Yeah, it is, it is. One of the things that we mentioned back in October was the fact that the Humane Society had opened up some really new, huge spay and neuter clinic. Have people been taking advantage of it? Have indeed. I wish I brought those numbers with me. I didn't know we were gonna talk about it, but we just- A guesstimate will be good. Yeah, we just released our first quarter numbers for the center and it was, I wanna say it was close to 1,000 surgeries. Wow. Yeah, in three months time. So it's been a real, I think, it's a great resource for the community and we're happy to be able to offer that. And it's been a mix of free roaming cats and pet animals, which is what we intended it to be. So very successful so far, the staff's been working really hard. I think that's fantastic because making it easier for people to just go and get their animals spayed and the fact that they're taking advantage of it shows us and shows the government that people have always wanted to take care of their animals, but it was a pricey procedure. And as I said, I used to buy those $50 certificates and then I'd go to one of the vets that was listed and they would try to hit me up for another $50 worth of all sorts of stuff that was not listed that they could get away with. And in the defense of the vets, they have a protocol, there's a different protocol for private clinic treatment and for shelter treatment. Exactly. So we are doing the basics. I mean, we're doing spayneuter and making sure the animal's healthy enough to get through the surgery. If you go to a veterinary clinic, they're gonna want to do more. They're gonna want to provide more for the animal's welfare. So it's not that they want to gouge people. It's really just that they have a different level of services they're expected to offer. Which is understandable. Which brings up another point, which I don't know if we have enough time to go into it, but maybe it's another discussion, which is, is the humane society ever going to be able to offer basic health care other than spayneutering for people whose animals are in need? But I have seen many cases where a person has to surrender an animal. They don't want to surrender it and usually they can be taking care of it, but there has been a problem and they cannot afford to have it cared for. And there is something so heartbreaking about that. I would hope that someday the humane society can find a way to help people keep their pets or at least reclaim their pets. When they are in a better situation. I think it matters. So do you think there's any chance we can ever find a way to do that? Or even if it's limited, even if it's just, okay, we can do it. We do have to charge you, but we can make an arrangement or we can charge you less because like you say, the requirements are different at a shelter than they are. I mean, I've fostered legless cats. I mean, one removed his leg. Why? Because he was turned in because it was damaged and his owner could not pay for the surgery. And I'm sure he found a wonderful home. He was a sweetheart, but if that person otherwise was able to keep that cat, I think that's sad. Do you think anything can be done about that at some point? Well, you know, no one wants to see anyone have to give up an animal because they can't afford their medical needs. And the tricky thing with being a nonprofit is trying to focus on priorities, right? You can't be all things to all people. And one of the reasons we went the route of the Spaniard clinic is because overpopulation is such an enormous issue in our community. And we really wanted to make inroads there. Oh, that would be first in any case. So, and that's kind of the calculus you have to make every day as a nonprofit is what can we do? What fits best in our mission and what maybe fits in someone else's mission better? And I would love to see support in our community for more low-cost veterinary care for folks so that they don't have to be in the situation you're describing. Yeah, I think I would hope in the future maybe that's something we can find a way to work for even if it has to be raised as a separate donation. I know that there are people who make very large donations to the Humane Society and target it such as dogs, small dogs who are open for adoption who may have had a heartworm and therefore are gonna have to have treatment. And that treatment is subsidized by a friend of the society so that people can adopt that dog. Otherwise they wouldn't because there's gonna be a medical treatment involved. Yeah, all of our heartworm-positive dogs are treated on campus. Oh, okay, well, see, that must be new then since I was last looking at it. Yeah, it's been a few years, but we have, yeah, we do have the funding so that if a dog is adoptable but has a heartworm condition, we will treat the dog for the heartworm condition. And it's the only case in which we actually do a foster to adopt program. So the heartworm-positive animals are put out on the adoption floor but if a family is interested in them, we explain that they are still going through this treatment and the family can foster the dog through the course of the treatment which the point Humane Society pays for. And once the dog is completed the treatment and is free of the disease, then they will be officially adopted. So we do that with any heartworm-positive animals. That's fantastic. So, ladies and gentlemen, I just want to encourage you again. If you have room in your house, if you're an animal lover, there are many pets that need to be temporarily taken care of. Whether they are cats and kittens or puppies or full-grown dogs, if you have the room, it helps the Humane Society. And it keeps those animals alive longer if they can be kept with a foster family, it will not overload the Humane Society. And once more, Stephanie, I believe the Humane Society does not that casually put animals down anymore. Am I correct in that? Well, we don't euthanize for space. I mean, and our foster care program is a wonderful benefit in that, if we do get to the point where we have more animals, then we physically have the capacity on campus to care for. We call on our foster volunteers to help with that. So any animal put up for adoption by the society will stay for as long as it takes them to find a home. We have a cat right now who's been there since last summer. And we're all in love with him, but he hasn't found his perfect home yet. But that's not that uncommon. You know, we prefer them to go more quickly because it's better for them, but we will keep them for as long as it takes them to find a home. And there are also discount days, I think. Like there's seniors who adopt senior animals. There's a special price to make it more affordable. And then every now and then there are sales, as you might say, for adopting animals. And if you find that the adoption price standard is too expensive for you, ask about that. Find out about that because the Humane Society wants you to adopt that pet. And if there's something standing in the way, they will try and help you find a way to adopt that pet. And we need more pets to be adopted. Okay, so am I correct in this? Absolutely. I'm making all sorts of judgments on behalf of the Humane Society. I don't even work for them. But there you go. So we are near the end of our time. And I'm concerned, because I could go on like this forever, but I have a feeling someone's gonna talk in my ear any minute now and say, you've got 10 seconds. So I am going to take this moment to say thank you very much, Stephanie, for having come in today and updating us. Anytime there's new information, we're gonna have you in because this is something I feel passionately about. And I hope all of you will, to the degree that you are able to, to the degree that you feel it's important, participate in caring for all wildlife, all pet life, and also pick up the duty after your animal and do not put them in my recycle bin. Whoever's doing that, you don't do that. Put it in a garbage. Okay, I just had to have that. I just had to say that. Thank you very much, everyone. This has been Martha Randolph at the will of the people. This is thinktecawaii.com. I am going to be having knee surgery in the coming weeks. So you may not see me for the next four weeks or so the next two shows, but I will be back. Thank you very much for watching. Take care. Bye-bye.