Posted on: Tuesday, June 25, 2002
$525 estimated for five-day pet quarantine
By Shayna Coleon
Advertiser Staff Writer
A proposed five-day quarantine for pets brought into Hawai'i may cost pet owners up to $525, a price that one group says is too high.
The estimated fee is based on a risk assessment of a five-day animal quarantine being considered by state veterinarian Dr. James Foppoli.
State officials have maintained a quarantine since 1917 to ensure that rabies is not introduced into Hawai'i. The quarantine period has been reduced only once, in 1997, when a 30-day option began.
The fee was calculated based on facility expenses under the five-day option, said Foppoli.
"Any time a policy shortens quarantine, it takes in less money," Foppoli said. "So, whatever we spend to operate the program is what we need to collect in revenue because we are a self-sufficient program."
The five-day quarantine would be a third option for bringing pets to the state. The shortest of the existing quarantine programs allows an animal to be confined for 30 days for a $655 fee, provided immunization and testing requirements are met. If those requirements are not met, the pet must serve the full 120-day quarantine period at a cost of $1,080.
A shorter confinement would mean that people planning to bring pets to Hawai' will have to begin programs of vaccinations and vet-supervised monitoring 180 days before moving instead of the current 90 days.
Foppoli does not think the five-day quarantine fee is high.
"There's a lot more to it than just having your dog or cat confined to a kennel for five days," Foppoli said. "You have to cover clerical work confirming animals who are qualified, and the basic overhead that goes into operating the facility."
One critic of the state's quarantine laws said the five-day quarantine fee is outrageous.
"How would you like to pay $100 and more a day for kenneling your pet, when they could easily be at home with you?" said Chris Quackenbush, spokeswoman for the Community Quarantine Reform Coalition of Hawai'i. "When someone e-mails you the blood results from your dog's blood test, how expensive can that be?
"The fee is unnecessary because science has proven that quarantine is unnecessary."
Eve Holt, spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Humane Society, said she cannot comment about the five-day quarantine fee until she sees the risk assessment of the program, but she does not think the cost of quarantine will be a problem for pet owners.
"If a $655 fee didn't stop them, then I don't think they will have a problem with $525," said Holt. "People will comply with this because they don't want to prolong the physical separation from their pets."
The Department of Agriculture has wanted to reduce the quarantine time, but Foppoli said he needed to conduct a risk assessment and wait for an independent review, which he received Sunday.
"I will now go over their recommendations," Foppoli said. "The quarantine might not stay at five days. If it doesn't (stay), then the fees will have to be recalculated."
He will make his recommendation to the Board of Agriculture, which will make the final decision. Foppoli said he hopes to have his recommendation ready by July 18, when the board meets next.
