Dog owners across Oahu could soon face civil fines of up to $1,000 if their pet gets loose, even if they weren't home when it happened. The Honolulu City Council is weighing Bill 16, a measure that would close a legal loophole that has let stray-dog cases slip through the cracks of the criminal court system for years.
The bill passed its second reading and went through a public hearing before the full council on August 12, with Councilmember Val Okimoto submitting a revised draft, Proposed Committee Draft 2, to sharpen the civil enforcement structure, according to Honolulu Legislative Documents. As reported by Aloha State Daily, the measure would let the city hold owners responsible whenever their dog goes stray because of their own negligence, rather than requiring proof they knowingly let it happen.
That distinction matters because of how narrowly courts have read the current law. Judges have interpreted the existing statute to mean an owner must be physically present and knowingly allow a dog to escape before facing charges, the outlet reports — a standard so strict that the vast majority of animal control cases in fiscal year 2025 were dismissed. Per a judiciary report cited in the same account, 6,099 animal control cases were active that year, but only 192 ended in conviction while 259 were dismissed outright.
Closing the Loophole in the Ordinance's Wording
Bill 16 would amend Revised Ordinances of Honolulu Section 12-4.2 by swapping the phrase permit the dog to become a stray for language making it unlawful to allow the dog to become, or fail to reasonably prevent the dog from becoming, a stray, according to Honolulu Legislative Documents. City code defines a stray dog as one found on public or private property without permission, unless it's under leash control, the same account notes.
The bill also proposes tiered civil fines of $250, $500 or $1,000 depending on whether the dog has strayed before, the report states, layered on top of the existing criminal penalty structure of $50, $100 or $500 for repeat offenses. Bill 16 goes further on the criminal side too, raising maximum penalties under ROH Section 12-4.9 to $1,000 and up to 30 days in jail for repeat offenses within two years, or for owners with prior state animal cruelty convictions, per the legislative filing.
An Administrative Track Meant to Bypass Crowded Courts
Under the proposed system, dog owners issued a civil notice of violation could appeal their fines through contested case administrative hearings governed by Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 91, the filing shows. Stephanie Kendrick said the civil fines could deter irresponsible owners while removing the burden from an overburdened criminal court system, according to the same reporting, and added that Bill 16 encourages responsible pet ownership.
Okimoto, who introduced Bill 16 in January, said the bill and the earlier Ordinance 26-9 together give the Honolulu Police Department and the Hawaiian Humane Society the tools to enforce existing law and regulate stray dogs and animal nuisances, the outlet reports. She said the strategy would hold irresponsible pet owners accountable while protecting community safety, per the same account. The bill also requires the Department of Customer Services director to mandate animal control enforcement through the city's contract with its designated provider and to conduct periodic reviews of contractor compliance, according to Honolulu Legislative Documents.
Loose Dogs Threaten Livestock in Waianae, Pets in Aiea
The stakes behind the paperwork are showing up in neighborhoods across Oahu. Residents reported stray or feral dogs threatening agricultural livestock in Waianae over the past two months, according to the same legislative filing, while public testimony submitted in August cited traffic hazards and safety risks for children and seniors in Aiea. Kimberly Hashiro said it is the owner's responsibility to restrain animals and prevent them from hurting others, the report states.
Joanne Parker reported that one of her dogs was attacked by two stray dogs on her street in Aiea, according to the same account. Stray dogs face a higher risk of injury or death themselves, the reporting adds, and the Hawaiian Humane Society took in 4,459 stray dogs across its shelters between July 2025 and June 2026.
That volume runs through the two campuses the nonprofit operates for Oahu's impounds — its historic Mōʻiliʻili Campus in Honolulu and the Kosasa Family Campus at Hoʻopili in Ewa Beach, according to the Hawaiian Humane Society. The nonprofit holds a $7,172,367 contract with the City and County of Honolulu, the reporting notes, and under existing rules it must hold microchipped stray dogs for at least five days compared with a 48-hour minimum for unchipped dogs.
Part of a Longer Push to Rewrite Oahu's Animal Code
Bill 16 is part of an effort spanning nearly two years to update the city's animal control code, according to Aloha State Daily's reporting. That push already produced Ordinance 26-9 in May, which overhauled Chapter 12 Article 2 of city code to align local animal nuisance laws with state statutes, per Honolulu Legislative Documents. The stray ordinance at the center of Bill 16 applies only to dogs, while separate rules already exist for rabbits and cats, the outlet reports.
Spaying and neutering pets reduces their urge to get out and leads to safer, healthier animals, according to the same reporting, while unplanned breeding leads to more strays overall. The Hawaiian Humane Society cannot legally release a dog impounded three times within a 12-month period without spaying or neutering it, the report notes. Hoodline previously covered Hawaii's Cat Crackdown Targets Free-Roaming Felines, which detailed companion state legislation, HB 1736 and HB 1594, that would create a statewide Spay and Neuter Special Fund and require sterilization for imported pets.
Bill 16 has received public support so far, according to the reporting, though key questions remain unresolved: how aggressively the Hawaiian Humane Society will issue civil citations under its city contract, and whether the new administrative appeal process can handle contested fines without creating fresh backlogs of its own.
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