HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0283.259 2024-2026From:
lauren
Sent: Monday, July 7, 2025 7:12 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: OPPOSE BILL 51 as it is written
Testimony of Lauren Turnbaugh Foo
President and Co -Founder, Aloha Animal Alliance
Hawaii County Council Hearing - Bill 51
July 8, 2025
Aloha Chair Inaba, Vice Chair Onishi, and Members of the Council,
COUNTY CLERK
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Date _ JUL 0 7 2025
My name is Lauren Turnbaugh Foo, and I am the President and Co -Founder of Aloha Animal Alliance, a
Hawaii -based nonprofit. Our mission is to design and implement programs that help keep animals out of
shelters. This includes spay/neuter and microchip clinics, pop-up wellness services for underserved
communities, and structured, data -driven solutions for managing community cats.
We cannot support Bill 51 in its current form.
We were invited to help develop a sustainable approach to the cat situation on Hawaii Island. In
response, we proposed a data -driven MTNR pilot project —Managed Trap -Neuter -Return. This model
includes certified caregiver training, digital colony tracking, designated feeding locations, and collaborative
oversight. We intentionally chose a challenging pilot area —including coastline, tourism zones, and
sensitive habitat —because if it can work there, it can work anywhere.
We built a multifaceted project team that includes local government, business leaders, environmental
advocates, volunteers, and residents. This is a broad -based effort —intended to build a model the County
can be proud of.
But here's the reality we're still facing:
Five years after the pandemic, our county shelters remain closed to the public.
That means residents who can no longer keep an animal —due to eviction, hardship, illness, or allergies —
have nowhere to turn.
Yes, Animal Control is doing the best it can with limited resources. But the reality is: cats cannot be
accommodated today, and rebuilding shelter capacity will take time.
So what options do residents have?
Either surrender a cat to a system with limited space, few transfer partners, and uncertain outcomes —or
release it into the wild and hope someone cares for it. This is the heartbreaking choice many people face.
That's why programs like ours are so essential. And yet, Bill 51, as currently written, risks criminalizing
even the most responsible efforts.
We support the intent of this bill —to stop unmanaged feeding in sensitive areas. That's why our solution
includes training, accountability, and, when appropriate, relocation of feeding to approved zones.
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But without an exemption for certified MTNR programs, the message becomes: even if you do
everything right, you may still face penalties. That erodes public trust. It discourages participation. It
drives the work back underground —where it cannot be measured, improved, or supported.
We respectfully u rge-yqu,tq,amend Bill 51 to ensure certified MTNR programs can operate legally and
openly. If we:wa;Qgo;e,2p up and be part of the solution, we must first build trust that their efforts
will be supported-oqqi£ya_LMjshed.
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Mahalo for your time and for the opportunity to testify.
Lauren Turnbaugh Foo
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