Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content.
Chapter 4 ANIMALS Article 1. Definitions. Section 4-1. Definitions. Article 2. Dog, Cat, and Animal Pounds. Section 4-2. i
Chapter 4
ANIMALS
Article 1. Definitions.
Section 4-1.
Definitions.
Article 2. Dog, Cat, and Animal Pounds.
Section 4-2.
Pound established for dogs, cats, and small domesticated animals.
Section 4-3.
Direction, control, and administration of pound.
Section 4-4.
Power to seize and impound dogs, cats, and small domesticated animals.
Section 4-5.
Enforcement by humane officer.
Section 4-6.
Expenses and appropriations for the pound.
Section 4-7.
Agreement between County and humane society required.
Section 4-8.
Quarterly report required.
Section 4-9.
Control of pound by humane society.
Section 4-10.
Transfer of facilities and equipment to societies; reversion.
Section 4-11.
Indemnification to County.
Article 3. Dog License Fees.
Section 4-12.
Fees.
Section 4-13.
Proof of sterilization.
Article 4. Prohibitions.
Division 1. Dogs, Cats, and Other Animals.
Section 4-14.
Impoundment of animals.
Section 4-15.
Failure to remove animal; penalty.
Section 4-16.
Duty upon striking animals, including dogs and cats.
Section 4-17.
Cruelty to animals, including dogs and cats.
Section 4-18.
Places prohibited to animals, including dogs and cats.
Section 4-19.
Defecation and nuisance prohibited.
Division 2. Dogs.
Section 4-20.
Seizure of dogs by officers.
Section 4-21.
Seizure of stray dogs by persons other than officers.
Section 4-22.
Redemption of seized dogs after sale.
Section 4-23.
Female dogs.
Section 4-24.
Noisy dogs.
Section 4-25.
Noisy dog; procedure for abatement of nuisance.
Section 4-26.
Harboring, holding for reward, or licensing of strayed or stolen dogs.
Section 4-27.
Injuring or poisoning dogs.
Section 4-28.
Dangerous dogs may be slain.
Section 4-29.
Leash required for public places.
Section 4-30.
Penalty for permitting a dog to stray.
Section 4-31.
Regulation of dangerous dogs; prohibited acts; conditions on owner; penalties. ii
Section 4-31.1.
Citation and summons; seizure; relinquishment of ownership.
Section 4-31.2.
Exemption.
Section 4-31.3.
Civil action not precluded.
Section 4-31.4.
Severability.
Division 3. Enforcement.
Section 4-32.
Enforcement.
Section 4-32.1.
Training; appointment; powers of humane officer.
Section 4-33.
Summons.
Section 4-34.
Failure to obey summons.
Section 4-35.
Issuance of complaint; when.
Section 4-36.
Disposition of fines and forfeitures.
Article 5. State Law Reference and Severability.
Section 4-37.
Reference to Hawaii state law.
Section 4-38.
Severability. A
NIMALS
§ 4-1
4-1
Chapter 4
ANIMALS
Article 1. Definitions.
Section 4-1.
Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(a) Animals, unless provided otherwise, include but are not limited to those animals that are customary and
usual pets such as dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, honeybees and other beasts which are maintained on the
premises of a dwelling unit and kept by the resident of a dwelling unit solely for personal enjoyment and
companionship, such as, without limitation, for a hobby, for legal sporting activities and for guarding of
property; animals exclude aviary game birds and fish as defined in Hawaii Revised Statutes. Animal
shall further mean any animal, farm animal, or poultry as those terms are defined in section 4.31.
(b) At large means on the premises of a person other than the owner of the dog or other small domesticated
animal without the consent of the occupant of the premises, or on a public street, alley, highway, or in any
public place except when under the control of a responsible person or an authorized representative of the
owner.
(c) Animal control officer means any employee of a County-contracted animal control services provider or
the Hawaii County Police Department who is authorized to carry out and enforce the provisions of this
chapter. Such individual shall also be known as and may bear the title of humane officer.
(d) Attack means aggressive physical contact with a person or animal initiated by the dog which may
include, but is not limited to, the dog jumping on, leaping at, or biting a person or animal.
(e) Bodily injury means the same as that defined in section 707-700, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
(f) County animal control service means the animal control services provider contracted by the County to
keep stray or unlicensed dogs.
(g) Dangerous dog means any dog which, without provocation, attacks a person or animal. A dogs breed
shall not be considered in determining whether or not it is dangerous.
(h) Enforcement officer means any person authorized and designated to enforce the provisions of this
article; however, only an officer of the Hawaii County Police Department may arrest a person pursuant
to the provisions of this article.
(i) Farm animals means pigs, cows, goats, sheep, horses, camels, and llamas.
(j) Humane society means any eleemosynary organization formed for the purpose of providing humane
care and treatment of dogs, cats, and other animals.
(k) Negligently shall have the same meaning as is ascribed to the term in section 702-206, Hawaii Revised
Statutes.
(l) Owner means any person owning, harboring or keeping a dog, provided that if the owner is a minor
under the age of 18 years, the parent, guardian or other person having the care, custody or control of the
minor shall be rebuttably presumed to be the owner. The person to whom the license was issued pursuant
to section 143-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be rebuttably presumed to be the owner of the dog for
purposes of this section.
(m) Person means and includes corporations, estates, associations, partnerships and trusts, as well as one or
more individual human beings.
(n) Poultry means chickens, pigeons, turkeys, geese, ducks, and peacocks not regulated by state law.
(o) Provocation means that the attack by a dog upon a person or animal was precipitated under
circumstances reasonably expected to evoke a vicious response from the dog, including, but not limited
to, the following: § 4-1
H
AWAI I
C
OUNTY
C
ODE
4-2
(1)
The dog was protecting or defending its owner or a member of its owners household from an attack
or assault;
(2)
The person attacked was committing a crime while on the property of the owner of the dog;
(3)
The person attacked was tormenting, abusing, or assaulting the dog;
(4)
The dog was attacked by the animal;
(5)
The dog was responding to pain or injury inflicted by the attacked person or animal; or
(6)
The dog was protecting itself, its kennels or its offspring from the attacked person or animal and the
attack was committed on its owners property.
(p) Serious injury to a domestic animal means physical injury to the animal involving a broken bone, a
laceration requiring stitches, a concussion, or a tearing or rupture of an organ.
(q) Sterilized dog means a spayed female dog and a neutered male dog.
(r)

Stray means:
(1)

An unlicensed dog or dog without a license for the current year;
(2)

Any dog on the premises of a person other than the owner of the dog, without the consent of an
occupant of such premises;
(3)

Any dog on a public street, on public or private school grounds, or in any other public place, except
when under the control of the owner by leash, cord, chain or other similar means of physical
restraint, provided that such leash, cord, chain, or other means is not more than eight feet in length,
and provided further that this provision shall not be construed to permit that which is prohibited by
any other law; or
(4)

A cat or small domesticated animal wandering or running at large, or found upon any public place
or found not upon the lands of the owner or not under the charge or control of one in possession.
(s) Vicious dog means a dog which:
(1)
Places a person or other animal in imminent danger of bodily injury; or
(2)
Has bitten any person or animal.
A dog shall not be deemed vicious where the vicious behavior in question is the result of the dog being
tormented, assaulted, or otherwise abused by the victim of the vicious behavior.
(1973, Ord. No. 11, sec. 1; Am. 1975, Ord. No. 86, sec. 1; Am. 1980, Ord. No. 510, sec. 2; Am. 1980, Ord.
No. 579, sec. 1; Am. 1988, Ord. No. 88-48, sec. 2; Am. 1992, Ord. No. 92-93, sec. 1; Am. 2002, Ord. No.
02-138, sec 2.)
4-1
Article 2. Dog, Cat, and Animal Pounds.
Section 4-2.
Pound established for dogs, cats, and small domesticated animals.
There may be established pounds for the purpose of impounding, sheltering, and disposing of unlicensed,
lost, stray, homeless, or diseased dogs, for the destruction or other disposition of seized dogs, not redeemed,
and for the sheltering and disposing of lost, stray, unclaimed, or diseased cats and other small domesticated
animals in the districts of Ka, Hilo, Hmkua, Puna, Kohala and Kona, County of Hawaii.
(1973, Ord. No. 11, sec. 1; Am. 1975, Ord. No. 86, sec. 1; Am. 1980, Ord. No. 510, sec. 2.)
4-2
Section 4-3.
Direction, control, and administration of pound.
Each pound shall be under the direction, control, and administration of the County or a humane society
with whom the County has contracted for services which shall, in addition to the duties provided in section
4-2, feed and shelter the dogs, cats, and small domesticated animals in their care pursuant to chapter 143,
Hawaii Revised Statutes. The County may enter into contracts with more than one humane society to carry
out the purposes of this chapter and chapter 143, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
(1973, Ord. No. 11, sec. 1; Am. 1975, Ord. N