The Hawaii Police Department likely will retain responsibility for animal control throughout the county for at least the next year, Police Chief Paul Ferreira said.
At a Tuesday meeting of the County Council’s Parks and Recreation and Public Safety Committee, Ferreira said HPD, which took over the county’s animal control services on July 1, will not be able to hand off those duties to another organization for at least a year — if ever.
Since taking over operations from the previous animal control organization — Hawaii Rainbow Rangers, which only began providing full animal control services in May — HPD has hired 12 animal control officers on 89-day contracts, Ferreira said.
Because it is unlikely the county will be able to contract with an organization to take over animal control services before the first of those contracts expire late this month, Ferreira said he hopes to extend them for another year while HPD continues to handle animal control in the interim — although he said HPD is not the best fit for those duties.
“If it was up to me, this would end tomorrow,” Ferreira said, noting that HPD “doesn’t have enough officers to handle (its) normal duties.”
Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung asked Ferreira which agency would be the best fit for animal control.
Ferreira jokingly responded, “the County Council,” before grudgingly admitting HPD is currently the only entity on the island that can handle the enforcement side of animal control.
Ferreira said that although the case could be made that animal control could fall under the departments of Finance or Public Works, the need for enforcement means that HPD still would be involved.
Ferreira suggested that a new department could be set up within county government to handle animal control, but such a process would be time-consuming. For now, he said, HPD is focused on maintaining its current contracts and finding other organizations to contract for other services.
But Ferreira said HPD’s accounting system is not set up to efficiently manage payments to contractors.
County Finance Director Deanna Sako said her department is working on setting up a more effective payment system that would allow HPD to allocate funds more efficiently, but added that it is a work in progress.
Even if a new organization is found, Ferreira said HPD might still be involved in animal control. No singular organization is likely to be able to manage animal control throughout the county. Ferreira said the Hawaii Island Humane Society, which held the contract before the Rainbow Rangers, struggled to work across the entire island, leaving the county and HPD to fill in the gaps.
Currently, there are two county-run animal intake facilities, one in Kailua-Kona and another recently leased location in Volcano.
Ferreira said HPD does not shelter or care for animals — those duties are contracted out to other organizations — but they must spay/neuter animals, check for diseases and hold the animals for 48 hours before passing them on to shelters.
Ferreira said he has considered the possibility for a third facility, perhaps in Pahoa or Ka‘u, but nothing has been decided.
For now, the public can call police dispatch at (808) 935-3311 to report injured animals, animals that are a public safety threat, or animal cruelty.
Nonemergency animal control issues can be reported at (808) 327-3558, and deceased animals on county or state roads should be reported to the Department of Public Works at (808) 961-8349 or the state Department of Transportation at (808) 933-8866.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
