During a bill-signing ceremony enlivened by wagging tails and pooch-themed puns, Gov. Neil Abercrombie enacted six laws aimed at curtailing animal cruelty.

"Six animal-protection-related bills is tremendous," Inga Gibson, Hawaii director of the Humane Society of the United States, said after the ceremony attended by dogs Wednesday at the Hawaiian Humane Society.

"I don’t believe we’ve ever had this many bills pass in a session and it’s really thanks to, obviously, the leadership and some of the changes with the committees in the Legislature, and of course the governor’s always been so supportive of animal protection issues," Gibson said.

Among the bills signed was Senate Bill 978, which upgrades misdemeanor animal cruelty offenses involving 10 or more animals to a class C felony and prohibits probation sentences for first- or second-degree animal cruelty that involve 10 or more pet animals.

Abercrombie also signed SB 9, which prohibits anyone convicted of first-degree animal cruelty from possessing or owning pets for at least five years.

Gibson said the two bills "are kind of, ‘Puppy millers beware.’

"That combo of the prohibition on ownership and the upgrade to a felony are a good warning to puppy millers."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Clayton Hee said he’s pleased with the new laws but that more needs to be done to discourage so-called puppy mills, such as the Waimanalo dog-breeding facility where dogs were found in poor condition in 2011. In May, the Hawaiian Humane Society removed 40 purebred Pomeranians from what the society described as "extremely filthy" living conditions at a longtime breeder’s Halawa house.

"What we have not yet addressed is what constitutes a puppy mill," said Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua). "The Legislature needs to define puppy mills by putting a hard number on what constitutes a puppy mill and we’ve tried (for) several years, and I imagine we’ll try again."

House Bill 235, also signed Wednesday, ensures that humane societies receive restitution to help cover the cost of caring for animals that fall victim to cruelty.

Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, who attended the bill signing, said that law is also in response to the Waimanalo puppy mill incident.

"(Circuit) Judge (Glenn) Kim would not give restitution but other judges were already giving restitution, so … we made it a law and said that the humane society can get restitution to make it very clear to them," Kaneshiro said.

Gibson said it’s tough to crack down on puppy mill operators because Honolulu is the only city in Hawaii that has limits on the number of dogs allowed to be bred on residential property, and Hawaii is the only state that does not have a single federally licensed breeder because pet stores are not required to disclose the origin of animals they sell.

"Breeders aren’t regulated, the pet stores aren’t regulated, so it’s hard to even track these animals back to their source," Gibson said. "It’s a vicious kind of circle because the feds can’t cite the breeders for failure to license because the pet stores won’t tell us where they’re getting their dogs from."

A separate bill enacted into law, Senate Bill 328, allows property managers to charge tenants refundable pet deposits in addition to security deposits, hopefully increasing the number of landlords willing to rent to pet owners. The law will apply to all rental agreements entered into on or after Nov. 1.