SB3043

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the welfare of both wildlife and hunting dogs is being severely compromised under certain hunting practices currently occurring in the State. Disturbing incidents have been documented in which wild pigs are subjected to prolonged torment, mutilation, and suffering at the hands of hunters who permit dog packs to attack and injure the animals for extended periods before dispatch. Numerous videos circulating on social media platforms show pigs being tied, immobilized, and attacked by multiple dogs while hunters look on without intervening to end the animal's suffering. These practices exceed any reasonable understanding of humane hunting and constitute cruelty.

The legislature further finds that the welfare of hunting dogs themselves is frequently neglected. Reports from veterinarians, animal shelters, rescue groups, and community witnesses indicate that dogs are often kept in substandard conditions, denied veterinary care, deprived of adequate nutrition, and abandoned in remote areas when injured or deemed no longer useful for hunting. This cycle contributes substantially to shelter overcrowding and increases the burden on public and nonprofit animal welfare organizations.

The legislature additionally finds that the Kauai Humane Society has recently reverted to a kill-shelter model due in significant part to the increasing influx of abandoned and injured hunting dogs, further demonstrating the urgent need for improved regulations and welfare protections. While the legislature recognizes the cultural, subsistence, and land‑management roles of hunting in Hawaii, it also finds that cruel or inhumane practices are neither culturally justified nor environmentally necessary. State agencies, responsible hunters, and animal welfare experts agree that clearer standards are needed to prevent animal cruelty, reduce unnecessary suffering, and promote responsible wildlife management.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to direct the department of land and natural resources to adopt rules that:

(1) Establish humane dispatch requirements for the taking of feral pigs;

(2) Prohibit practices that constitute torture or torment;

(3) Regulate the safe and humane use of dogs in feral pig hunting, including limits on pack size;

(4) Require minimum health and welfare standards for hunting dogs;

(5) Update hunter education requirements to include humane methods and animal welfare protections; and

(6) Designate the torture of wildlife, game mammals, and feral pigs as cruelty to animals in the second degree.

SECTION 3. Chapter 183D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§183D- Humane dispatch of feral pigs; rules. (a) No later than July 1, 2027, the department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 establishing standards for the humane dispatch of feral pigs during hunting activities.

(b) Rules adopted pursuant to this section shall include but not be limited to:

(1) Acceptable humane methods of dispatch;

(2) Prohibited practices, including torture, torment, mutilation, prolonged suffering, or unnecessary delay in killing the animal;

(3) A prohibition on catch-and-release hunting;

(4) Standards on the permissible involvement of dogs in dispatch;

(5) A definition of "limited contact" between dogs and feral pigs; and

(6) Requirements ensuring any restraint is brief and solely for the purpose of swift, humane dispatch.

(c) In adopting rules pursuant to this section, the department shall consult with licensed veterinarians, local animal shelters, and responsible hunting stakeholders, and may consult with national nonprofit organizations incorporated for the purpose of providing or furthering the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals.

§183D- Hunting dog welfare standards; rules. (a) No later than July 1, 2027, the department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 establishing minimum health, safety, and welfare standards for dogs used in feral pig hunting.

(b) Rules adopted pursuant to this section shall include but not be limited to:

(1) Kenneling and housing standards;

(2) Nutrition and clean drinking water requirements;

(3) Veterinary care requirements;

(4) Protective equipment standards;

(5) Mandatory use of tracking devices labeled with owner information;

(6) A prohibition on abandonment of hunting dogs;

(7) Limits on the number of dogs used in a single hunt, as determined appropriate by the department to protect animal welfare and promote humane dispatch; and

(8) Any additional measures necessary to ensure humane treatment of dogs used for feral pig hunting.

SECTION 4. Section 183D-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§183D-28 Hunter education program. (a) The department shall establish a hunter education program to provide instruction in hunter safety, principles of conservation, and sportsmanship. Upon successful completion of the program, the department shall issue to the graduate a hunter education certificate which shall be valid for the life of the person. This certification shall be rescinded by judicial action upon the conviction of a wildlife [~~and/or~~] or firearms violation. No person shall be eligible for a hunting license unless the person possesses a valid hunter education certificate or meets the requirements for exemption provided in subsection (b)(2), and is either:

(1) Born after December 31, 1971; or

(2) Born before January 1, 1972, and has never been issued a hunting license in the State.

(b) A person who meets the minimum age requirements adopted pursuant to subsection (c) shall be exempt from the requirements of subsection (a) if the person:

(1) Was born before January 1, 1972, and at one time possessed a hunting license issued by the State; provided that the person shows satisfactory proof to the department that the person had possessed the hunting license;

(2) Has successfully completed a course or program of hunter education and safety that is approved by the International Hunter Education Association and meets the requirements of Chapter 12 of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Aid Manual, as revised; provided that the person shows satisfactory proof in the form of a certificate, wallet card, or other document issued by a state, province, or country evidencing successful completion of the course or program; or

(3) Obtains a three-day or a seven-day hunting license pursuant to section 183D-22(b)(3) to hunt on a private and commercial shooting preserve, accompanied by a hunting guide licensed pursuant to section 183D-25.5; provided that:

(A) All hunting shall be conducted on a licensed private and commercial shooting preserve and under the direction of a hunting guide who has successfully completed a Hawaii hunter education certification course and meets the requirements of section 183D-25.5;

(B) [~~Prior to~~] Before licensing, a hunter safety class and field training session shall be provided to the licensee that includes hunter safety and hunting equipment use and safe discharge;

(C) While hunting under these provisions, a hunting guide shall guide not more than two unaccompanied clients at any time while hunting;

(D) All hunting guides and clients shall wear a hunter safety blaze-orange outer garment while hunting;

(E) The private and commercial shooting preserve operator, hunting guides, and clients agree to be subject to inspection while engaged in hunting activities by department representatives or authorized law enforcement officers; and

(F) The private and commercial shooting preserve owner and operator assume responsibility and liability for public and hunter safety while operating under these provisions and agree to report any injuries to the department.

Upon application and satisfaction of the requirements of paragraph (1), the department shall issue a written exemption that shall be valid for the life of the person. The department shall develop and maintain a list of approved hunter education courses described in paragraph (2) for reference by the public and license agents.

(c) The department, by rules adopted pursuant to chapter 91, shall establish minimum age requirements for issuance of the hunter education certificate, or the exemption therefrom, required to obtain a hunting license pursuant to section 183D‑22(a)(3).

(d) The department may establish a hunter education officer position to administer the program, outline all phases of instruction, conduct general supervision of individual programs, and distribute information on the program, or may contract the program to a qualified organization.

(e) The department may construct, operate, and maintain public outdoor and indoor target ranges for the program.

(f) The department shall prepare reports as may be necessary to seek approval under Public Law 91-503 for federal assistance in this program of hunter safety, conservation, and sportsmanship.

(g) The hunter education program shall include:

(1) Instruction on humane dispatch methods for feral pigs, including proper shot placement and humane knife application;

(2) Education on animal cruelty laws, including conduct that constitutes torment, torture, or unnecessary suffering;

(3) Instruction on the humane and responsible use of dogs, including the definition of "limited contact";

(4) Examples of conduct that violates humane dispatch or dog welfare standards;

(5) Instruction on recognizing signs of distress in animals and avoiding prolonged suffering; and

(6) Any additional training required by rules adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter."

SECTION 4. Section 711-1109, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:

"(1) A person commits the offense of cruelty to animals in the second degree if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:

(a) Overdrives, overloads, tortures, torments, beats, causes substantial bodily injury to, or starves any animal, or causes the overdriving, overloading, torture, torment, beating, or starving of any animal;

(b) Deprives a pet animal of necessary sustenance or causes that deprivation;

(c) Mutilates, poisons, or kills without need any animal other than insects, vermin, or other pests; provided that the handling or extermination of any insect, vermin, or other pest is conducted in accordance with standard and acceptable pest control practices and all applicable laws and regulations;

(d) Keeps, uses, or in any way is connected with or interested in the management of, or receives money for the admission of any person to, any place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting any bull, bear, cock, or other animal, and includes every person who encourages, aids, or assists therein, or who permits or suffers any place to be so kept or used;

(e) Carries or causes to be carried, in or upon any vehicle or other conveyance, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner;

(f) Confines or causes to be confined, in a kennel or cage, any pet animal in a cruel or inhumane manner;

(g) Tethers, fastens, ties, or restrains a dog to a doghouse, tree, fence, or any other stationary object, or uses a trolley, trolley with swivels, pulley, cable, running line, or trolley lacking swivels at each end that is designed to attach a dog to two stationary objects in a configuration that endangers the dog, including preventing the dog from obtaining necessary sustenance;

(h) Tethers or restrains a dog under the age of six months unless the dog is engaged in an activity supervised by its owner or an agent of its owner;

(i) Tethers or restrains a dog by a tow or log chain;

(j) Tethers or restrains by means of choke collar, pinch collar, or prong collar unless the dog is engaged in an activity supervised by its owner or an agent of its owner; [or]

(k) Assists another in the commission of any act specified in paragraphs (a) through (j)[.]; or

(l) Uses one or more dogs to torture, torment, or knowingly cause prolonged suffering to wildlife or game mammals, as defined by section 183D-51, including feral pigs, during or in preparation for hunting activities."

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3043
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII