Hawaii County names Regina DoDaro to lead Animal Control Agency
Regina DoDaro will take over Hawaii County’s animal control agency Aug. 3. The county still has to prove it can staff the job, cover the island and manage shelter capacity.
Hawaii County has named Regina DoDaro administrator of the Animal Control and Protection Agency, with the appointment taking effect Monday, Aug. 3. The job puts her in charge of islandwide animal control on a county where complaints about stray dogs, bites, loose livestock and sheltering can surface in Hilo, Kailua-Kona, Puna and Kaū long before they reach a public meeting.
The appointment is more than a routine personnel move because the county created the Animal Control and Protection Agency effective July 1, 2023, and the Hawaii Police Department says the county, not HPD, now houses and performs animal control services islandwide. County records identify DoDaro as Regina DoDaro Romero Serrano, and a Dec. 9, 2022 county record said, “We currently oversee the Animal Control program.”
Her first public test will be operational: whether the county can keep pace with complaints and fill the staffing gaps that have shown up in recent years. County job postings in 2024 listed Animal Control and Protection Officer I vacancies in Kailua-Kona and Puna, a reminder that coverage across Hawaii Island has remained uneven even after the county separated animal control from police operations.
Shelter space is another hard measure. A Dec. 9, 2022 county record said the system could house 44 dogs and 30 cats in West Hawaii and 60 dogs in the East Hawaii Shelter. On an island with wide geographic spread and long travel times, those numbers shape how quickly the county can move animals out of field pickups and into care, especially when multiple communities are reporting problems at once.
DoDaro also inherits a broader animal-safety network that now reaches beyond routine enforcement. In March 2025, the Hawaii Animal Kuleana Alliance and Code 3 Associates hosted a five-day animal search-and-rescue cohort, and Spectrum News described it as the first-ever animal search-and-rescue training in Hawaii. That work matters on Hawaii Island because storms, evacuations and other emergencies can leave pets and livestock stranded, forcing county animal control to coordinate with the Hawaii Island Humane Society, police and rescue volunteers.
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