Hawaii Supreme Court rejects appeal over abandoned kittens

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HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a woman ordered to pay a fine for abandoning kittens at a park.

Susan Owen must pay $150.

Owen took her case to the state’s high court after an appeals court upheld a judge’s guilty verdict against her.

In 2016, state lawmakers enacted a pet animal desertion law. The crime is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and a year in jail.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Owen told the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals the kittens were not pets because they were not domesticated. She said she only had them for two days and never intended to keep them.

The state Supreme Court refused to hear her appeal last week.