Kauai County, HI Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 22-2.2 defines a dog as 'at large' when it is on another person's premises without the occupant's consent, or on a public street, school grounds or any other public place unless it is under the owner's control by a leash, cord, chain or similar restraint no more than eight feet long. Section 22-2.3 makes it unlawful for any dog owner, whether the dog is licensed or not, to permit or cause the dog to become a stray. Owners also carry cleanup duties under § 22-2.5: it is unlawful to let a dog defecate and leave the waste on a public sidewalk, bike or pedestrian path, beach or other public or private property besides the owner's own, and an owner taking a dog onto such property must visibly carry the tools needed to pick up and dispose of the waste.

Section 22-2.6 exempts seeing-eye dogs assisting blind persons, law enforcement dogs on duty, hunting dogs accompanied by their owner on hunting grounds, and obedience, tracking or show dogs training or competing with permission from the park or school. The County contracts enforcement to the Kaua'i Humane Society: § 22-2.7 lets the County authorize Humane Society animal wardens, compensated or volunteer, and § 22-2.8 empowers those wardens and police officers to seize and impound a stray dog and issue a citation, with the case heard in the District Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit.

A stray dog is impounded under Chapter 143, H.R.S., with the impounding fee set by § 22-10.6 of the County Code. Section 22-2.11 fixes graduated fines: $100 to $200 for a first offense, $200 to $300 for a second, and $300 to $500 for a third or later violation.