TESTIFY TO STOP HAWAII FROM ERADICATING ALL FERAL CHICKENS - HEARING THIS FRIDAY!!!

Hearing for SB2195 to "eradicate" all "feral fowl" from Hawai'i will be heard THIS Friday*. Testimony must be turned in by Thursday 9am. This may be our only chance to be heard! ANYONE can testify.

STEPS TO TESTIFY:

1) Log in / create an account at capitol.hawaii.gov

2) Once you are logged in go to THIS LINK or type SB2195 in the hearing search bar

3) Click the SUBMIT TESTIMONY on the top of the page

4) Fill out the form with your testimony. You can submit text AND testify live on Zoom. (Would be great to have live testimony)

It really just takes a minute or two to send in testimony and truly EVERY TESTIMONY COUNTS. Mahalo!!

- - - - -

SAMPLE TESTIMONY [make it your own]: Chickens are a part of Hawaiian culture. Feral chickens and their eggs are a potential, viable, emergency food source. Putting out drugged bird seed to destroy their eggs when Hawai'i is claiming to want to be sustainable is counterproductive. Protected birds could inadvertently eat the OvoControl bird seed – or contaminated soil, bugs, water – unless extreme care is taken. It can not be used in damp conditions, rain or near water sources. Studies have shown it can reduce a bird’s ability to dissipate heat when environmental temperatures and humidity are high. Red Junglefowl (especially strong in feral chickens on Kaua'i) is revered and could be essential for the rescue of commercial chicken breeds. Not to mention, many locals and tourists love Hawaii's chickens. There are better ways to manage population, including tackling the cockfighting operations and dumping of birds; using funds to establish bird sanctuaries; establish locally organized chicken programs that could include harvesting, selling, eating the delicious and nutritious feral chicken eggs; provide Junglefowl chickens / eggs to breeders.

- - - - -

* Bill is scheduled to be heard by AGR on Friday, 03-18-22 9:00AM in House conference room 325 Via Videoconference. You can watch the hearing live on youtube: HERE

Note: This bill was originally written to cover select areas on Oahu. They got no pushback and decided to change it to cover the entire state of Hawai'i. Please read the latest version of the bill: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2022/bills/SB2195_SD2_.HTM