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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBIL 125 Draft 01 2020-2022 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 4, OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO ANIMALS.  BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I: SECTION 1.  Purpose. Hawai‘i County residents and their animals have recently been subjected to a number of vicious attacks by dogs. These incidents have resulted in severe injuries and even the death of persons and animals who were attacked. In response to these events, this ordinance includes additional provisions to regulate persons who own, harbor, or keep any dog that has bitten, injured, or maimed a person or injured, maimed, or destroyed an animal belonging to another person. This ordinance groups these new provisions with existing sections relating to dangerous dogs into a new division, entitled “Dangerous Dogs,” and reorganizes chapter 4 to effectuate creation of this new division. To support this structural reorganization, this ordinance further amends the chapter for clarity, makes minor formatting changes, and repeals inefficacious provisions that refer to State law and severability. SECTION 2.  Chapter 4, article 1, section 4-1, of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), is amended by removing the letters (a) through (s) that precede the definitions.   SECTION 3.  Chapter 4, article 1, section 4-1, of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), is amended by amending the definition of “bodily injury” to read as follows:  ““Bodily injury” means [the same as that defined in section 707-700, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes] physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.” SECTION 4.  Chapter 4, article 1, section 4-1, of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), is amended by adding the definitions of “serious bodily injury” and “substantial bodily injury” to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:  ““Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.” ““Substantial bodily injury” means bodily injury which causes: (1) A major avulsion, laceration, or penetration of the skin; (2) A burn of at least second degree severity; (3) A bone fracture; (4) A serious concussion; or (5) A tearing, rupture, or corrosive damage to the esophagus, viscera, or other internal organs.” SECTION 5.  Chapter 4, article 4, of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), is amended for organizational purposes, as follows: 1. Renumbering and renaming the title of the article as follows: “Article [4. Prohibitions] 3. Dogs, Cats, and Other Animals.”; 2. Placing sections 4-14 to 4-19 within this article; 3. Deleting the title, “[Division 1. Dogs, Cats, and Other Animals.]” (This shall not affect sections 4-14 through 4-19); and 4. Deleting the title “[Division 2. Dogs.]” (This shall not affect sections 4-20 through 4-31.4). SECTION 6.  Chapter 4, article 3, of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), is amended for organizational purposes, as follows: 1. Renumbering and renaming the title of the article as follows: “Article [3. Dog License Fees] 4. Dogs.”; 2. Adding the following new division to this article, “Division 1. Dog License Fees.” and placing sections 4-12 and 4-13 within this division 1; 3. Adding the following new division to this article, “Division 2. General Provisions.” and placing sections 4-20 to 4-27, 4-29, and 4-30 within this division 2; and 4. Adding the following new division to this article, “Division 3. Dangerous Dogs.” and placing sections 4-28, 4-31 to 4-31.3 within this division 3. SECTION 7.  Chapter 4, section 4-31, of the Hawai‘i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), is amended to read as follows: “Section 4-31. [Regulation of dangerous dogs; prohibited acts; conditions on owner; penalties. (a) A dog owner commits the offense of negligent failure to control a dangerous dog, if the person negligently fails to take reasonable measures to prevent the dog from attacking, without provocation, a person or animal and such attack results in: (1) The maiming or causing of serious injury to or the destruction of an animal; or (2) Bodily injury to a person. A person convicted under this subsection shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor and sentenced in accordance with subsections (c), (d), and (e). (b) For the purposes of this section, “reasonable measures to prevent the dog from attacking” shall include but not be limited to: (1) Measures required to be taken under sections 4-14, 4-15, 4-18, 4-20, 4-23, 4-30 and 4-32 of this chapter to prevent the dog from becoming a stray; and (2) Any conditions imposed by the court for the training of the dog or owner or for the supervision, confinement or restraint of the dog for a previous conviction under this section. (c) A dog owner convicted under subsection (a) shall be sentenced to one or more of the following: (1) A fine of not less than $200 nor more than $2,000; (2) A period of imprisonment of up to thirty days, or in lieu of imprisonment, a period of probation of not more than six months in accordance with the procedures, terms and conditions provided in chapter 706, part II, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes; (3) Restitution to any individual who has suffered bodily injury or property damage as a result of an attack by the dog. (d) Unless the dog has been or is ordered to be humanely destroyed, the dog owner shall also be sentenced to the following mandatory provisions, in addition to the provisions of subsection (c): (1) The owner shall provide the owner’s name, address and telephone number to the county animal control service; (2) The owner shall provide the location at which the dog is currently kept, if such location is not the owner’s address; (3) The owner shall promptly notify the appropriate animal control service of: (A) Any changes in the ownership of the dog or the location of the dog along with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of new owners or the new address at which the dog is located; (B) Any further instances of an attack by the dog upon a person or an animal; (C) Any claims made or lawsuits brought as a result of further instances of an attack by the dog; or (D) The death of the dog. (4) The owner shall obtain a license for the dog pursuant to section 143-2, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, if the dog is not currently licensed; and (5) Unless already identified by microchip, the dog shall be permanently identified, at the owner’s expense, by injecting into the dog an identification microchip using standard veterinary procedures and practices. The microchip identification number of the dog shall be provided to the county animal control service. (e) In addition to the provisions of subsections (c) and (d), the dog owner may also be sentenced to any of the following terms or conditions: (1) When indoors, the dog be under the control of a person eighteen years of age or older; (2) When outdoors and unattended, the dog be kept within a locked fenced or walled area from which it cannot escape; (3) When outdoors and unattended, the dog be confined to an escape-proof kennel; (4) When outdoors, the dog be attended and kept within a fenced or walled area from which it cannot escape;