Under a bill inspired by the death of Mila, a beloved Belgian Malinois, pet owners would be notified if their cats or dogs are found dead on public roads.
House Bill 667 would require the state Department of Transportation to scan any animal found dead for a microchip, identify the owner and report the information to animal services before treating it as a stray.
House lawmakers on Tuesday disagreed with changes that the Senate made to HB 667, meaning the differences will be addressed in a joint House-Senate conference committee in the final days of the legislative session.
Rep. Darius Kila (D, Nanakuli-Maili) was inspired to introduce HB 667 after finding and reporting the death of a constituent’s dog along Farrington Highway.
He didn’t know who Mila was or if she had an owner because she had run away from home without her collar.
With no requirements to identify Mila’s owner, DOT workers sent her body to a landfill.
Mila did have a microchip that identified her owners as an active duty Army couple, Patricia Corpuz and Cole Smith.
Corpuz only found out what had happened after seeing a post in a Waianae Facebook group on Nov. 6, 2024, where neighbors shared that Mila’s body had been found.
“People on Facebook said that she looked like she was just sleeping,” Corpuz told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser over the phone.
Corpuz and Smith knew that their spicy ahi-, hot dog- and zucchini-loving 4-year-old animal isn’t the only pet whose body has been lost to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill without any legislation requiring DOT workers to look for their owners.
“I’m just hoping that everything goes well with this bill,” Corpuz said. “It’s not just us who’s affected. There’s multiple families.”
The couple met with Kila to share their story and advocate for identifying future pets who are found dead to let their owners know what’s happened.
“This is a small, short step that we can take to prevent years of heartbreak,” Corpuz said.
Kila agreed that DOT procedures should change.
“If we had the rules set in place requiring deceased animals to be scanned for microchips, we would’ve been able to determine that the dog (Mila) was not a stray and in fact belonged to somebody,” Kila said. “It’s so sad.”
If passed, HB 667 would be known as the Mila Microchip Identification Act.
It’s intended to honor Mila’s life and represent what Kila called “a dignified way for people to find closure.”
Kila said that finding dead cats and dogs on the streets of Hawaii happens frequently.
“I call in deceased animals at least once a week on Farrington Highway — when I’m coming home or going to the Capitol,” he said. “Sadly, it happens more often than people realize.”
Kila remains optimistic about HB 667, especially because it requires no funding now that the DOT has the equipment needed to read microchips.
“The DOT was able to procure the scanners on their own and all that they need is the rule-making process to actually get it done,” Kila said.
DOT Director Ed Sniffen submitted testimony in support of HB 667.
“The HDOT recognizes the importance of notifying pet owners and is committed to enhancing our approach to this issue,” Sniffen wrote.
There was no written testimony submitted in opposition.
Kila owns four dogs and knows that identifying dead pets could ease the pain for grieving families.
“I would say 99% of people who own animals treat them like a member of their family,” he said.
Through HB 667, Kila said, “they’re given the opportunity for private closure.”
Correction: House lawmakers on Tuesday disagreed with changes that the Senate made to HB 667. An earlier version said it was Senate lawmakers who disagreed with the House changes.
