Rules for state rabies quarantine program revised
LIHUE, Kauai — Hawaii revised its rules for the rabies quarantine program that aims to prevent the introduction of the virus into the state.
Gov. David Ige this week signed off on the revision, which reduces the waiting periods for pets complying with the 5 Day or Less Rabies Quarantine Program. The new rules go into effect next week.
Under the program, pets must undergo rabies vaccinations and blood testing before arriving in Hawaii. Compliant pets are released at the airport upon arrival instead of being subjected to a 120-day quarantine.
The state previously required a 120-day wait after the blood antibody test and a 90-day wait from the last rabies vaccination before the pet arrived. Both waiting periods were cut back to 30 days under the new rules.
The state also requires pets to be microchipped, free of parasites and have all the proper paperwork sent in before entering.
More than 16,500 dogs and cats were processed entering Hawaii last year, according to the state Department of Agriculture. About 90 percent of the pets were eligible for release at the airport.
Whale bones returned to sea
WAILUKU, Maui — The bones of a juvenile humpback whale that were displayed for more than 30 years were returned to the sea last week.
The whale that became beached in January 1986 on Kahoolawe was returned to the waters off that coast in a ceremony honoring Native Hawaiian cultural practices.
The U.S. Navy, which controlled Kahoolawe when the whale washed ashore, turned over disposal of the whale to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which handed it over to the Pacific Whale Foundation.
The foundation reconstructed the skeleton and displayed until 1988. It was then transferred to the Bishop Museum, which displayed it at the Hawaii Maritime Center until it closed in 2009.
NOAA, which has authority for the retention of marine mammal parts, authorized the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission to coordinate efforts for the bones to be returned to the ocean.
In Hawaiian tradition, the humpback whale is considered sacred because it is the body form of Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the ocean, said Craig Neff, who organized the whale’s return on behalf of the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana organization.
