Hawaiian Humane Society
Newsletter People for animals. Animals for people.
April - June 2015
Humane Society’s admissions center is a hub for people and animals in need Saturday often means that there’s a line of people with animals that stretches out the door to the parking lot. The Hawaiian Humane Society welcomes about 70 animals daily. In fact, 26,372 animals arrived last year. Of those, 13,833 were The Hawaiian Humane Society cats, 9,205 were dogs and is Oahu’s only 3,334 were a wide variety of open-admission animals including rabbits, shelter that welcomes about guinea pigs, birds, fish and 70 animals daily. other animals. Situations and scenarios are endless and every animal comes with a story. Thousands of people and animals come through this doorway each month. Some come to get feral cats sterilized so they won’t reproduce in their neighborhood.
Something new for animals and people The admissions center is a hub for Oahu’s animals facing transition. To meet the expanding needs of arrivals, the Humane Society plans to develop a new admissions center that will feature indoor and outdoor areas, more comfortable waiting areas to reduce stress for animals and more work stations so that animals can be admitted more expeditiously. The Humane Society will keep you updated as progress continues.
Others come to pick up newborn starter kits for kittens that are too young for adoption. A few bring in unwanted illegal animals so they are not released into the environment. Volunteers also come with animals that they are fostering for health checks. And for pets whose time has come, their owners may bring them in to be humanely laid to rest. Standing in the Admissions Center on any given day one can observe the many stories that the Humane Society becomes a part of. A man stepped up to the counter with a pair of puppies that he found on the North Shore. “They just started hanging around my place a few days ago,” he said. When he realized that they didn’t have a home, he drove nearly two hours to bring them to the Humane Society.
Next in line was a man without any animals. “My cat passed away last night,” he whispered. An admissions representative stepped out from behind the counter and walked with the man to his car as he couldn’t bear to carry in his beloved cat in for cremation. Behind that man stood a sweet dog named Buddy with an owner who was recently divorced and moving. “The Humane Society’s open-door policy means that all homeless animals – no matter their condition or their species – have a place to go when no one else will take them,” says Admissions Manager Joe Adarna. “We won’t turn animals away so they aren’t released to the streets or left to suffer in neglect when owners can no longer care for them. We’re there for people and animals at a time when they need someone and some place to go.”