LIHU‘E — The Kauai Humane Society currently has 163 cats and 41 dogs that are available for adoption, which inspired them to provide free services during the pandemic in hopes of uplifting families on Kaua‘i.
“KHS’s main goal during the pandemic is keeping families together,” said KHS’s executive director Nicole Schafer Crane. “Pets are a vital part of the family. We know that times are hard and many families on Kaua‘i have been suffering from hardships of unemployment.”
It’s been a rough year for KHS as well, navigating the strict rules that have been in place on Kauai in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Although KHS is considered an essential service, we did have to limit the time staff spent in the shelter,” Crane said. “All employees who could work from home did and those who had to come into the shelter did so in split shifts to minimize contact. Now, most of our staff are vaccinated and have been able to return to work.”
A lower number of visitors coming to the island also resulted in fewer dogs being taken out through the humane society’s field trip program — which is both an outlet for advertisement and adoption for KHS.
For 2021, KHS is focused on publicizing the free and low-cost services KHS offers the community such as low-cost vaccine, microchip, spay &neuter clinics, and KHS’s pet food bank.
According to Crane, KHS has fixed 151 cats for free this year and intends to offer more free spray and neuter clinics as funding becomes available.
Besides offering free services, KHS has also donated 3,900 pounds of food this year to houseless shelter-in-place encampments at Lydgate, Lucy Wright, Salt Pond Beach Park, and to the north shore of Kaua‘i after the mudslide cut off the road this spring.
Crane said KHS has given out nearly 1,000 free microchips so far this year and more than 50 free vaccines.
“We adopted 109 animals in April,” Crane said. “We currently have 124 animals in foster care.”
KHS has 45 full-time and part-time employees and Crane said they take care of everything from caring for the animals to managing the shelter’s thrift shop.
“It’s crucial that our staff are not only educated on our policies and procedures when it comes to adoptions and community services but that they are up-to-date on best practices of working with animals to minimize the animals’ stress levels and provide the best care,” Crane said.
“We have staff who are able to offer surrender counseling to people who are considering surrendering their animals over. Often, our staff are able to talk through why the person wants to surrender their animal and brainstorm ways we can help them keep the animal, whether that is with behavioral training or by offering free pet food.”
Crane said having employees who are knowledgeable and experienced in animal welfare allows KHS to offer the plethora of services they provide.
“We get cases every day that require quick thinking – an abusive or dangerous dog pick up, a cat that got hit by a car and needs lifesaving surgery, or a neglected animal that needs special care and attention to get back to good health,” Crane said.
Senja Miyamoto, a KHS staff member that is transitioning from animal care to customer service said she grew up around animals.
“It’s a passion of mine to be here and help the animals get a chance at life, taking care of them and getting them good homes and families,” Miyamoto said. “Every day is a new day. I’m so thankful for the community and the programs that we have for our dogs and cats.”
According to Crane, every person who comes into the shelter has specific needs and wants for their families. Having an experienced and educated team makes the difference in how efficient KHS’s organization runs and how helpful they are to the community.
Jason Bartlett, a volunteer coordinator at KHS said she is ecstatic to work at the shelter.
“I love to work here,” Bartlett said. “I think it’s super fun getting to make a difference in the community and even though it can be a hard job, emotionally, it’s very rewarding at the end of the day. I get to work with compassionate people and it’s by far the best animal care facility I’ve ever seen.”
If residents are looking into adopting an animal at KHS, Crane said the shelter is running by scheduled appointments to ensure proper safety measures are met during the time of COVID-19 and to decrease wait times for those needing services.
“We have spacious screened-in rooms on the outsides of our cat and kitten adoption rooms for interested adopters to meet cats, and we have spacious play yards in our courtyard for meeting dogs,” Crane said. “When meeting an animal, a staff member will walk the interested adopter to the appropriate area and remain nearby to answer any questions, as well as inform the adopter about the animal”
