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_ _ <br /> '~za~sro~s <br /> y ~xce~e~cce icc tlse ~a;rxt`uzg S~zeect!Q - <br /> HCR 1 Box 5344_ ICeaau, llawaii 9674~~) <br /> [~clephone ~ 80S) 9R?-SQ94 <br /> f;-mai l hilodik~a aol.com _ ; <br /> <br /> February 14, 2006 <br /> Testimony Related To Flawaii County Bi114, Draft 6, Entitled "Animals" <br /> Dear Chairman Higa and Members of the Hawaii County Council: <br /> We appreciate the opportunity to address the issue of animal control, once again before <br /> the Council. We have previously expressed our views on this subject when it was before <br /> the Council in March of last year, in subsequent public hearings, and in informal <br /> meetings and communications over the past several months. <br /> First let me state that we are appreciative oFthe fact that several of our recommendations <br /> have been incorporated into the current draft. In the public hearings on this bill, it was the <br /> opinion of the majority that the existing draft was unworkable, and that it should be <br /> scrapped and rewritten. This has been done, and Drafr 6 is certainly more readable and <br /> coherent. <br /> Another recommendation arising from public discussion was reduction in licensing fees <br /> for animals having implanted microchip identification devices. We are pleased that that <br /> recommendation has also been incorporated into the current draft. Other issues <br /> concerning enforceability of certain provisions of the previous draft have likewise been <br /> clarified or deleted. There remain, however, several provisions in the current draft that we <br /> find objectionable, and hope that the Council will correct before final action is taken on <br /> this ordinance: <br /> In the definitions section, the specific term "dog" is used in several places where the <br /> generic term "animal" is appropriate. We would be pleased to point these out to the party <br /> assembling the document. The same holds rue for several typographical errors found in <br /> the draft. <br /> The definition of "microchip" is professionally imprecise. It focuses on size, rather than <br /> function. Microchips have been used for animal identification for the past 15 years. A <br /> microchip is a surgically implantable electronic device which is externally readable and <br /> provides a unique identification code for the host animal. Whether it is the size of "a <br /> Comm. No~p~2 2.4 ~ . <br /> Ref. To; 1 <br /> Ref. i7ata 1 <br /> <br />