Petition: The Video Went Viral. The Bill It Was Meant to Pass Died in Committee.

The videos were filmed from several angles by people who happened to be nearby. They show a man yanking a dog’s leash hard enough to lift the animal off the ground by its throat, kicking it, and then lunging at a car when he realises he is being recorded. It is not clear that anyone has been identified or charged. What is clear is that the bill Hawai’i animal advocates wanted passed in response, HB 698, failed in the 2026 legislative session, which means the ask here is no longer to pass it but to bring it back. Please sign the petition urging lawmakers to strengthen Hawai’i’s animal protection laws.

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Hawai’i already has criminal animal cruelty provisions under Chapter 711 of its Revised Statutes, so the gap is not that nothing exists. Second-degree cruelty is a misdemeanour; first-degree, covering intentional torture, mutilation or poisoning of a pet animal resulting in serious injury or death, is a felony. What advocates argue is that the threshold sits too high for the cases that actually reach officers, and that penalties below it are weak enough to be treated as an afterthought. One local animal advocate put the enforcement problem plainly, saying animal cruelty is the charge that gets thrown out because prosecutors have bigger worries. State Representative Ikaika Olds, who worked on HB 698, said after the video circulated that he was furious and appalled and that legislation providing significant protections was needed.

Two details give this more weight than a single video. Honolulu police recorded 73 animal cruelty crimes in 2023 against 58 in 2018, so the caseload is rising rather than steady. And the Hawaiian Humane Society has pointed out a structural hole that no cruelty statute addresses: the state does not regulate animal-related businesses at all, meaning there is no transparency on who is breeding animals, in what numbers, or in what conditions, and animal law enforcement has no right to inspect those premises without enough evidence to obtain a warrant. There is one genuinely useful thing to take from this case, and it comes from the Hawaiian Humane Society itself: report first, share second. A firsthand witness contacting them is what allowed Animal Protection Officers to open an investigation, and contacting them before posting gives officers the best chance to act before someone relocates, conceals an animal, or leaves the area. One Green Planet has covered what to do if you suspect animal abuse, and the case is reported by Island News.

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