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Feral animals bill advances

Thursday, July 24, 2025 12:05 am

By JOHN BURNETT Hawaii Tribune-Herald

A bill that would ban the feeding of feral or stray animals such as cats or pigs on Hawaii County property passed its first reading Wednesday by the County Council, despite opposition by a large majority of in-person testifiers.

The vote was 6-1 in favor of Bill 51, with Chairman Holeka Inaba and Puna Councilman Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder, who introduced the measure, absent and excused.

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HAA NOTES:
JULY 24, 2025 - FRONT PAGE OF HILO HAWAII TRIBUNE! WOW.
OVERWHELMING OPPOSITION IGNORED AS BILL PASSES COUNCIL.
Big turnout testified against Hawaii County Bill 51 that bans feeding of Pet and Community cats on county land and parks!
The Hawaii Animal Advocacy org, I founded for this effort, landed almost 2,000 signatures to the petition and 1,660 signors or so sent in the petition as their testimony before meeting deadline.
Petition sure seemed to get the council's attention to approve an amendment for professionalized cat management (good step forward) but did not budge from passing the bill.
Sign the petition now to tell Council to vote no on Bill 51