State enacts more measures from 2024 law to prevent dog attacks

More provisions in a 2024 law regarding dangerous dogs took affect on Tuesday that are designed to make their owners take more responsibility to prevent attacks against people and other animals.

Act 224 was passed in 2024, partly in response to the death of 71-year-old Bob Northrop, who was attacked by four large dogs while walking to a friend’s house on Outrigger Drive in Ocean View on Hawai‘i Island.

At the time, the maximum penalty for negligent dog control was a petty misdemeanor.

“If the dogs had been secured in a fenced area or kennels, this could have been preventable,” said Hawaiʻi County Councilwoman Michelle Galimba, who represents the Ocean View area.

After learning about the limited charges facing the dogs’ owners, Northrop’s daughter, Shannon Matson, went to Oʻahu to testify in favor of the bill. She gathered hundreds of pieces of testimony and involved people from Maui and Kauaʻi in support of the bill.

“I feel like our loss isn’t completely in vain,” Matson said. “This is a bittersweet victory because we won’t know if it worked until the next incident.”

Act 224 establishes the offense of negligent failure to control a dangerous dog including both misdemeanor penalties resulting in the injury, maiming or death of another animal or bodily injury to another person and felony penalties resulting in substantial injury, serious bodily injury, or the death of another person.

The portions of Act 224 that became effective on Tuesday provide a legal basis for declaring dogs “dangerous.” They also establish requirements for owners of such dogs, parameters for rescinding the dangerous dog declaration, and the right for law enforcement to inspect the homes of dangerous dogs if there is probable cause of an imminent threat to a person or animal.

Dogs can be declared dangerous if they bite or injure a person or another animal without provocation. A dog’s breed is not considered when determining danger.

The new provisions come after a 20% increase in emergency calls for dog attacks in the state last year. The United States Postal Service reported 60% of the 20 dog bites occurred on Oʻahu.

Those attacks include Hilo mail carrier Kathy Kawaha.

“My experience when I was bitten involved two dogs off-leash,” she said. “The owners were in the garage; I delivered a package but forgot one. When I returned, one dog was visible, and the other nipped my leg.”

Kawaha said in her 17 to 18 years with the Postal Service, it was her first bite, “but dealing with dogs is not new.”

In 2023, a Hawaiʻi Island police officer shot and killed a dog after four unleased pit bulls ran out of a private residence and charged him while he and other officer were trying to serve a restraining order.

Kawaha emphasizes the need for leashed dogs.

“It’s not the dogs’ fault — they protect homes — but owners should keep dogs leashed,” she said. “If bitten, it’s the owner’s responsibility. I didn’t press charges; the bite wasn’t severe, and the dog didn’t deserve to be punished.”

Mail carriers can halt delivery if dogs are unsecured repeatedly. Residents would need to collect mail from the Post Office until it’s safe to resume delivery.

If dangerous dog issues are unresolved, owners may be required to rent a Post Office box for mail.

In the event of a dog attack, carriers are trained to protect themselves using an object, like a mail satchel, and employ dog repellent if needed.

Carriers use tools to note potential dog hazards. A feature on handheld scanners alerts them of possible dangers, and dog warning cards in mail sorting help indicate addresses where dogs may interfere with delivery.

“We try to be cautious, but dogs can be unpredictable and are oddly drawn to mail trucks,” Kawaha said. “It’s safer if dogs are leashed or inside. Their barks are startling enough to give us a pep in our step.”