Naya the dog is a mix of hunting-type breeds that recently landed at Kauai Humane Society, and now lives in Washington with new owners Bret and Samantha Granquist.
“Naya was adopted through the field-trip program,” said Laura Lee, development director with the Kauai Humane Society.
She’s one of dozens of dogs that have been adopted through the field-trip program, which allows visitors and residents alike to take a dog from the shelter out for a day on the island.
Hiking and walking through island towns, beach trips and treats are all on the menu for the field-trip dogs, and lucky pups like Naya get a ticket to a new home in the process.
But that’s just one of the ways that the Kauai Humane Society finds homes for cats and dogs. From sponsoring Pet of the Week features Sundays in The Garden Island to amping up the transfer program, KHS works to keep pets in homes, and their annual fundraiser helps them carry out their mission.
Set for 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Kauai Marriott Resort &Beach Club main ballroom on Saturday, Paws for Celebration has been an annual event since the 1980s.
Tickets can be purchased at the KHS website and are $125 a piece. Admission includes dinner and entertainment from Ka Ohana o Kauai.
Items at the live auction include a seven-night cruise in Tahiti, a Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort &Spa two-night stay, a night at the Kauai Marriott Resort &Beach Club Presidential Suite, and a four-person trip to Italy for seven nights.
Silent-auction items include a wine pull, Tito’s vodka baskets, Marcus Mariota memorabilia, dinners at various restaurants, tickets to tours and jewelry.
Proceeds are used for operations to fulfill KHS’s mission of fostering respect, responsibility and compassion for all animals and enriching lives by nurturing healthy relationships between pets and people, according to Diann Hartman, president of the KHS board of directors.
The latest population numbers at the shelter are from August and show there are about 215 dogs currently at KHS and 250 cats.
Statistics from January through August show intake is down 11 percent to 2,205, with a total of 948 dogs and 1,257 cats. Adoptions are down 5 percent to 553, with 297 dogs and 256 cats adopted out.
Transfers are up 52 percent to 553 animals, with 266 dogs and 287 cats transferred to the mainland so far in 2018.
Euthanasia is down 24 percent from the year prior, to 985 animals — 124 dogs have been euthanized this year plus 62 owner-requested procedures. Some 426 cats were euthanized, plus 288 feral cats and 85 owner-requested procedures.
There have been 633 cats and 446 dogs sterilized so far in 2018.
Humane officers have responded to 968 calls thus far for things like strays, injured or dead animals, cruelty and neglect, leash-law violations, barking dogs, bites and scratches.
The transfer program has continued to be successful at saving more lives and finding loving homes on the Mainland for Kauai’s animals, according to Hartman.
“We have some amazing supporters, Destinations in Paradise, who challenged KHS with two matching $10,000 fund drives thus far in 2018, specifically for the transfer program,” she said.
She pointed out anonymous supporters who also did a matching $10,000 fund drive in May for the program.
“We have partner shelters and rescues from San Diego to Seattle where the demand for animals outpaces the supply of adoptable animals,” Hartman said.
She continued: “By transferring animals, it opens a space here at the shelter for at least one more animal and provides those mainland shelters with grateful, loving Kauai dogs and cats ready for their new families and forever homes.”
Meanwhile, KHS is still on the hunt for an executive director since the November resignation of Scott Pisani, who held the job about a year. Currently the rest of the management team at KHS is taking on the responsibilities, Hartman said.
“The managers and board want to ensure we have the right candidate who has animal welfare experience, understands our culture, the community, and the animal-related challenges on the island,” she said. “We want to ensure they will fit well within the community and be an exceptional leader for our team.”
More info on Paws for Celebration: kauaihumane.org
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
