STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2975

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2561

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2561, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMAL ENDANGERMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit intentionally leaving or confining pet animals in a vehicle under conditions that endanger their health, safety, or well-being;

(2) Permit law enforcement officers, animal control officers, and firefighters to enter an unattended vehicle to protect the health, safety, or well-being of a pet animal that is endangered by being left or confined in an unattended vehicle; and

(3) Allow private citizens to rescue a pet animal that has been left in an unattended vehicle under certain circumstances.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Interfaith Alliance in Britain, and fourteen individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Hawaii Association for Justice, and Hawaiian Humane Society.

Your Committee finds that every year, hundreds of pet animals lose their lives when their owners leave them alone in parked vehicles in extreme temperatures. Your Committee further finds that fourteen states have already passed measures granting certain immunities from civil and criminal liability for individuals who rescue unattended pets left in vehicles. By protecting individuals who intervene to remove unattended animals contained in vehicles, this measure will protect and save pet animals from injury or death due to dangerous temperatures.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of April 14, 2112, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments` for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2561, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2561, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair