The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose a civil penalty on pet owners if their dogs stray, in an effort to hold pet owners responsible and keep dogs safe.
The current stray dog ordinance makes it unlawful for dog owners to allow their dogs to stray or become a stray. Bill 16 proposes making it unlawful for an owner to allow a dog to stray or become a stray, or to fail to reasonably prevent a dog from becoming a stray.
The term “stray” applies to dogs when they are on public property or private property without permission, except when under the control of a leash, according to city code.
Department of Customer Services Director Kimberly Hashiro spelled it out this way during the committee meeting on Wednesday: “it’s the owner’s responsibility to restrain animals and prevent them from hurting others.”
Councilmember Val Okimoto, who introduced Bill 16 in January, said during a Committee on International and Legal Affairs meeting on Wednesday afternoon that the bill is part of a nearly two years long effort with the Department of Customer Services and Hawaiian Human Society to update city code.
“Bill 16 (26) and Ordinance 26-9 provides HPD and the humane society with new tools which are necessary to enforce existing law, to regulate stray dogs and animal nuisances within the city,” Okimoto said. “I am optimistic that this new strategy will allow the city and the human society to hold irresponsible pet owners responsible effectively while ensuring the safety of our community members are protected.”
Stephanie Kendrick, vice president of community engagement at the Hawaiian Humane Society, told Aloha State Daily that the bill encourages responsible pet ownership.
“Obviously, you don’t punish pets for being stray. It’s their owners who are held accountable for not keeping them safe,” she said.
According to Hawaiian Humane Society, which contracts with the City and County of Honolulu for animal control and welfare services for $7,172,367, 4,459 stray dogs came into one of their four shelters between July 2025 and June 2026. Kendrick said that stray dogs have a higher risk of injury or death.
Spay neuter is one piece of the puzzle to prevent strays. Kendrick said that unplanned breeding leads to more strays, and spaying or neutering pets reduces the animal’s urge to get out and leads to safer and healthier pets. The Hawaiian Human Society cannot legally release dogs that are impounded three times in a 12-month period without spaying or neutering them.
Kendrick said that courts interpreted the current statute to mean that unless an owner is physically present and knowingly allows a dog to stray, then it’s not an offense.
“The wording that we’ve proposed in Bill 16 allows people to be held responsible if their animal is stray because of their negligence.”
Current law imposes criminal penalties and fines of $50, $100 and $500, depending on if the owner let the animal stray before, but Kendrick said that criminal courts are overburdened.
According to the judiciary’s 2025 annual caseload report, 6,099 animal control cases were active during the 2025 fiscal year. Of those, 259 cases were dismissed and 192 cases resulted in conviction.
Bill 16 creates a civil penalty structure with fines of $250, $500 or $1,000 depending on if a dog has strayed before.
“We’re hoping that that’s going to be painful enough that the owners are going to get the message and say, 'I can’t keep doing this because I’m going to get a serious fine if I do', but it will also remove the burden from the criminal court system, which just does not have the bandwidth to handle these cases,” Kendrick said.
The stray ordinance applies only to dogs. Other rules are on the books for rabbits and cats.
The primary concern is the safety of the animals, Kendrick said, however, dogs can pose a public safety threat.
So far, the bill has received support from the public.
Joanne Parker, of ʻAiea, wrote that one of her dogs was attacked by two stray dogs on her street.
“Even though this incident was reported to the police, our laws are so laxed that nothing was done to the owners or the dogs, that were part pitbulls,” she wrote. “This was probably the worst experience, and no one should go through this.”
Residents in Waiʻanae reported to their neighborhood board in July and August that stray or feral dogs were threatening agricultural livestock on the west side of Oʻahu.
Haley Lehman can be reached at haley@alohastatedaily.com.
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