HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0283.146 2024-2026COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAII
Testimony of Lori Luchette 2025 JUL _7 Ali ;}: 07
Vice President and Co -Founder, Aloha Animal Oasis }
Hawai'i County Council Hearing - Bill 51
July 8, 2025
Aloha Chair Inaba, Vice Chair Onishi, and Members of the Council,
My name is Lori Luchette, and I am the Vice President and Co -Founder of Aloha Animal
Oasis, a Hawai'i-based nonprofit. Our mission is to humanely reduce the number of free
roaming cats through targeted TNVR and providing a safe haven for cats currently located in
areas of indigenous species.
We've been involved with Aloha Animal Alliance in the development of their data -driven
MTNR pilot project. Their plan has already been approved by the county. We plan to be part
of their community team when it's time to implement the program. We believe their plan is
solid and attainable and are committed to making it happen.
Feeding bans do not eliminate cats, but make them harder to monitor, vaccinate, and
sterilize. TNVR is more effective than feeding bans as it keeps cats from reproducing.
Currently the only TNVR that's being done is by the very people you want to penalize for
feeding. Most of the feeders are also the ones that are doing the trapping and bringing the
cats to community clinics to be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. You can't
trap cats without food. AAA's plan has been approved and requires training and monitoring
of cat colonies by all that want to continue helping colonies. If you're an approved feeder,
you're allowed to continue to feed because you're also trapping, sterilizing and monitoring
colonies with real data. I agree that feeding should not be done by random people and only
done by those that have attended training and have been approved to do so.
I respectfully urge you to amend Bill 51 to allow certified MTNR programs to operate
legally and openly. If we want people to step up and be part of the solution, we must first
build the trust that their efforts will be protected —not punished.
Mahalo for your time and for the opportunity to testify.
Comm. �'a
Ref. To
Ref. Dote 2025