republic-os/legislation/us/states/hi/2024/hb-1527.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO VETERINARY MEDICINE."
description: "Prohibits animal owners and their employees from performing any surgical procedures on the owner's pet animal or pet animals. Provides that a violation of the prohibition is a misdemeanor. Clarifies that the offense of cruelty to animals in the first degree does not apply to accepted veterinary practices when the practices are performed by a licensed veterinarian. Repeals exemption of cropping and docking as customarily practiced under the offense of cruelty to animals in the first degree. (SD2)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 1527"
citation: "Hawaii HB 1527 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals", "Cropping", "Cruelty to Animals in the First Degree", "Docking", "Pet Animals", "Prohibited", "Surgery", "Veterinary Practices"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["NISHIMOTO"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 32
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ebe495ff-0bd1-430c-9aa6-169e04e31d42"
source_url: "https://capitol.hawaii.gov/session/archives/measure_indiv_Archives.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1527&year=2024"
source_hash: "fb254e1051d3162c651ad9e8ed6b1d8ebb863b9e67f26a2cb785cdde44919411"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-hi"]
---

# Hawaii HB 1527 (2024) — RELATING TO VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Prohibits animal owners and their employees from performing any surgical procedures on the owner's pet animal or pet animals. Provides that a violation of the prohibition is a misdemeanor. Clarifies that the offense of cruelty to animals in the first degree does not apply to accepted veterinary practices when the practices are performed by a licensed veterinarian. Repeals exemption of cropping and docking as customarily practiced under the offense of cruelty to animals in the first degree. (SD2)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB1527** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB1527_.HTM)
2. **HB1527_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB1527_HD1_.HTM)
3. **HB1527_SD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB1527_SD1_.HTM)
4. **HB1527_SD2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2024/bills/HB1527_SD2_.HTM)

## Votes

- Reconsider: The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **4–1** (pass) · upper
- Reconsider: The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **3–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- NISHIMOTO — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-07-08** Act 221, 07/08/2024 (Gov. Msg. No. 1322). `became-law`
- **2024-07-08** Act 221, on 07/08/2024 (Gov. Msg. No. 1322). `became-law`
- **2024-04-18** Transmitted to Governor.
- **2024-04-19** Received notice of House agreement and passage on Final Reading (Hse. Com. No. 772). `receipt`
- **2024-04-18** Passed Final Reading as amended in SD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Garcia excused (1). `passage`
- **2024-04-18** House agrees to Senate amendment(s).
- **2024-04-18** Received notice of House reconsideration of action in disagreeing to the amendments proposed by the Senate (Hse. Com. No. 763). `receipt`
- **2024-04-17** Reconsideration of action taken on 04-11-24.
- **2024-04-12** Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 731). `receipt`
- **2024-04-11** House disagrees with Senate amendment (s). `amendment-failure`
- **2024-04-09** Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 493) in amended form (SD 2).
- **2024-04-09** Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 21; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) DeCoite, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, McKelvey, Richards, San Buenaventura. Noes, 3 (Senator(s) Awa, Elefante, Fevella). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Keohokalole). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2024-04-05** 48 Hrs. Notice 04-09-24.
- **2024-04-05** Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3749) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
- **2024-04-02** The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Elefante; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Awa. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-27** The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 04-02-24 10:05AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
- **2024-03-22** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC. `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-03-22** Reported from AEN/CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3291) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.
- **2024-03-19** The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) McKelvey, Richards ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-19** The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in AEN were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Richards, DeCoite ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Rhoads. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-14** The committee(s) on AEN/CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 03-19-24 9:30AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
- **2024-03-07** Referred to AEN/CPN, JDC. `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-07** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2024-03-07** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 178). `introduction, receipt`
- **2024-03-05** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Woodson excused (2). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1; placed on the calendar for Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Aiu, Cochran, Garrett, Holt, Kahaloa, Lowen, Nishimoto, Quinlan, Todd excused (9).
- **2024-02-29** Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 651-24) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2024-02-21** The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Takayama, Evslin, Ganaden, Holt, Ichiyama, Ilagan, Kong, Miyake, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-16** Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Wednesday, 02-21-24 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- **2024-01-24** Referred to JHA, referral sheet 1 `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-17** Introduced and Pass First Reading. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2024-01-08** Prefiled.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ebe495ff-0bd1-430c-9aa6-169e04e31d42`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).