HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaiian Humane Society said Hawaii has some of the weakest animal cruelty penalties in the nation, but a new proposal could change that.

Lawmakers are considering tougher punishments for abusers. Hawaiian Humane Society’s community engagement director said those convicted of animal cruelty almost always get a slap on the wrist — most offenses are only considered misdemeanors.

“You really you have to harm ten or more animals in order to have a felony offense under current law,” Steph Kendrick said. “So it doesn’t matter how badly the animal’s hurt. If it’s not ten or more, you’re not committing a felony.”

Lack of enforcement is also an issue for the founder of the rescue group Hina’s Legacy. She tried for years to get authorities involved in the case of 14-year-old Max, who was apparently being abused by his owner until 2024.

“He was completely emaciated. His bones in the back were his ribs were broken, his hind legs. He could barely walk. He was completely stiff. And even with an investigator taking a look at that, they walked away from it,” Chantell Moniz said. “We believe that stronger laws could deter anybody from or people, at least have them think about it in that moment, You know, maybe it’ll stop them!”

The proposed legislation would not create any new crimes, but Kendrick said it would make egregious instances that involve animal sexual abuse, torture or death into felony cases.

“We want to make sure that in those instances, offenders hopefully do some prison time, which unfortunately in our state is vanishingly rare for animal cruelty cases,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick added that stricter penalties are not just meant to protect four-legged friends and cited nationwide research that those who commit crimes on animals are also likely to commit crimes against humans.

“And in particular, children who are exposed to animal abuse are likely to be violent criminals later in life, which is a devastating thing for a community. and something that we want to avoid at all costs,” she said.

The legislation to increase animal cruelty penalties passed its first committee hearing on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Click here for more information about other bills that are sponsored by the Humane Society.