Mistreated horses on O‘ahu require county solutions, argues an animal rescue group.
Last week, a committee hearing of the City Council Committee on Government Efficiency and Customer Services was scheduled to discuss a resolution urging the government to establish a “rescue and rehabilitation program for equines.”
Horses, the resolution stated, are expensive and difficult to care for, which can lead to their neglect should their owners meet financial difficulties. But with few programs to care for the neglected or abandoned animals, mistreated horses have become “a long-standing problem” in the county.
Therefore, the resolution called for the County Department of Customer Services to develop a horse rescue program and recommended that the department contract the work through an existing organization that already cares for mistreated horses.
That organization would be Ho‘omaluhia Horse Rescue Hawai‘i, a nonprofit group that is “the only actively operating equine rescue” on O‘ahu, said co-founder Edwin Ampon.
Ampon told Aloha State Daily that Ho‘omaluhia has encountered “five or six” cases of neglected or abused horses since the group was incorporated last year. Despite this, the animals exist in a “gray area,” where it is unclear what authority, if any, is responsible for their well-being.
Horses are currently legally classified as livestock, Ampon said, even though they are not raised for consumption. But despite having deep cultural ties to Hawai‘i via paniolo traditions, there remains no dedicated program for their rehabilitation as there is for pet animals like dogs and cats.
Ampon said Ho‘omaluhia relies on volunteers and minimal funding to help ailing horses, which he said are often malnourished, skinny, with overgrown hooves. Owners unable to continue to care for horses can surrender them to Ho‘omaluhia to be rehomed.
According to the rescue’s website, the organization is currently caring for nine horses with a variety of age- and injury-related conditions. Two of them, both miniature horses, were adopted from the Mainland after their owner was impacted by wildfires.
In some cases, the group has been able to rehome horses quickly, moving an animal to another owner without ever keeping it themselves.
But often, he said, the problem exceeds the organization’s grasp.
“We don’t have power on our own; we usually refer cases to the [Hawaiian] Humane Society,” Ampon said, but added that longer-term collaboration between Ho‘omaluhia and the Humane Society has not materialized.
Because of this, Ho‘omaluhia proposed the resolution to the Council, Ampon said. In a letter to the Council, he requested that his organization be officially recognized as a qualified partner in a future equine rescue program, which would grant the rescue a greater ability to respond and intervene.
Furthermore, Ampon recommended that the Council consider future legislation that would allow Ho‘omaluhia and other qualified organizations “limited enforcement” authority in cases of neglect or abuse, similar to that afforded to the Humane Society.
The Council never discussed the matter, however. North Shore Councilman Matt Weyer, who introduced the resolution, cancelled the item with no comment at the Thursday committee hearing.
Aloha State Daily reached out to Weyer for comment.
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