Question: Is it legal to feed feral cats on Oahu? We live next to Pearl Ridge Elementary School and notice that every evening or so a woman in a white car dumps about 10 cans of cat food on the sidewalk near the entrance to the school, and a herd of feral cats and birds converge on the food.
Answer: Yes, but the person feeding them would be considered the cats’ owner and be responsible for identifying and sterilizing them, said Suzy Tam, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Humane Society. She explains:
“Free-roaming cats are a diverse population that can include feral, abandoned, lost and owned pets that are allowed outdoors. The feeding of free-roaming cats is not illegal. However, under the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, Section 7-6.2, all cats over the age of 6 months must have a form of identification. Per Section 7-6.6, all cats over the age of 6 months old that are allowed to roam outdoors must be sterilized. An ‘owner’ is defined as any person owning, harboring or keeping, or providing care or sustenance for a cat, whether registered or not, or having custody of a cat, whether temporarily or permanently.
“This means that anyone who is caring for a colony and is regularly providing food to these cats is legally responsible for ensuring that the cats are sterilized and have a form of identification, which can include microchips. Fortunately, there are many colony caregivers who practice responsible Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage programs, a humane and effective strategy to reduce cat overpopulation and improve quality of life for these felines. Free-roaming cats who are sterilized by the Hawaiian Humane Society are also provided microchips, which are usually registered to colony caregivers.”
Hawaii doesn’t have a cat-colony registration system, so not all active colonies are known, but the Humane Society is aware of a colony at the general location you mentioned, Tam said. She couldn’t be certain that the woman you saw is the known TNRM caregiver, however.
The Humane Society advises colony caregivers to establish feeding stations away from highly visible areas, to obtain the property owner’s consent and to ensure the area is kept free of trash and feces, as stated in its brochure “Help Oahu’s Felines,” 808ne.ws/tnrm.
TNRM has its critics, including the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which describes feral cats as a major threat to wildlife and people and deems TNRM an inadequate response. “Any realistic approach to the feral cat problem in Hawaii must include euthanasia for animals that cannot be placed into homes or sanctuaries (separated from native wildlife),” department chief Suzanne Case said in recent legislative testimony.
E kala mai
On Wednesday I was backing into the loading dock of our storage facility. I unintentionally backed in too close to the adjacent vehicle, forcing the couple standing next to their vehicle into an awkward attempt to enter their vehicle. I realized my error and wanted to pull out and back in once again, to give the couple more room. As their passenger door was already opened, I tried calling to them to let me try to reposition my vehicle. They ignored my attempts to get their attention, presumably because they were angry with me. But, as their door was now ajar and created too much hazard for me to pull out, I waited until the passenger closed her door. I did pull back out and reposition my vehicle to give them more room. By then they were both in their vehicle and were pulling out to leave. I tried calling to them to apologize for my error, but they either didn’t hear me or didn’t want to respond out of anger. In any case, I was at fault and would like to convey my apologies to the two occupants of the white pickup truck. — M.R.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
