The Kauai Humane Society is the island’s only full-service animal welfare organization. As an “open-door” shelter, we do not turn any animal away; we accept every animal brought to us. Subsequently, we receive approximately 5,000 animals a year from the
The Kauai Humane Society is the island’s only full-service animal welfare organization. As an “open-door” shelter, we do not turn any animal away; we accept every animal brought to us. Subsequently, we receive approximately 5,000 animals a year from the community; 80 percent of these animals are strays, lost or abandoned. The shelter is always full as a result. We are more crowded in late spring through fall, these times of year being our busiest season. Our adoption areas, with the exception of our kitten room, are always full on a daily basis; our kitten area may not be packed in January, but today it is bursting with kittens and will continue to be through late fall. We always have exceptional animals available for adoption, with more arriving at KHS each day.
There has been much discussion in the community lately about the assumed increase in euthanasia numbers here at the shelter; in fact, our numbers have actually decreased. Our euthanasia rate for the first five months of 2014 is 10 percent less than the same five months in 2013 and 25 percent less than those same months in 2012. All of our work at KHS is focused on decreasing euthanasia and increasing the number of animal’s lives saved.
KHS has outstanding programs in place to help the animals we care for have as many options at a new life as possible. We have a robust foster program that gives healthy, unweaned kittens and puppies an opportunity to grow up to be old enough for adoption; this same program provides a safe respite for an animal to recover from a medical issue. We have a highly successful shelter pet transfer program with our partner, Alaska Airlines, that enables us to fly our KHS dogs to three Mainland shelters’ adoption programs where they are guaranteed new homes. This program alone has placed over 300 animals in the past 18 months into responsible and loving homes. Our shelter dog field trip program gives visitors to our island the opportunity to take a shelter dog out for the day to enjoy a hike or the beach; this program results in two adoptions a week (at minimum) to places all over the map, including international locations. KHS trained volunteers help the animal’s chances of being adopted by taking them out into the community through our mobile adoption program, held weekly at the Saturday farmer’s market at KCC.
We have other exceptional programs designed to decrease the number of animals coming into the shelter. Our spay neuter assistance program offers low-cost, subsidized or free surgeries to the community. Currently, appointments for dogs’ surgeries are booked three to four weeks in advance; our clinic vet staff has performed hundreds of surgeries this past year. We are preparing our mobile spay/neuter bus for our summer mobile program into different neighborhoods to further our goal of reducing pet overpopulation on Kauai. We have a pet food bank that gives food to people who are struggling financially to feed their animal companion; we have taken this program “on the road” by stocking some community food pantries with pet food. We have a behavior helpline designed to assist people resolve a behavior problem with their pet with the goal of keeping the animal in the home. We have a pet identification program that offers low-cost microchipping for an easy and permanent form of identification to make sure a lost pet gets returned safely to their home. Finally, KHS sells the required county pet licenses.
Despite these amazing life-saving programs and our hard work and collective staff efforts, we still receive far more animals than we can place. With painful regret, this means that animals are euthanized. If this makes the community angry, then that’s good. It should. It makes us angry, too! The numbers of animals that KHS has to euthanize is a direct result of the action, or inaction, taken by island residents. For our euthanasia numbers to continue to decrease, the community must be involved. Take personal responsibility for your animals. When people take responsibility to spay or neuter their animal to prevent unwanted litters; when individuals place identification on their animal so he/she has a ticket home if lost; when people promise to keep an animal for the animal’s lifetime; when they do not ever abandon an animal; and when they adopt a new animal directly from our shelter; then, and only then, can we decrease the number of animals’ lives that are lost. We cannot succeed without community participation. Join us in our continual campaign to save animals’ lives; behave responsibly with your own companion animal.
• Penny Cistaro is executive director of the Kauai Humane Society.
