Highlights and milestones

As we embark on 2023, it’s important to look back on the milestones that the Hawaiian Humane Society has accomplished this past year with the aim of projecting how we will continue to grow.

2022 also brought the return of in-person events with PetWalk, back for the first time since 2018. New memories and traditions were made at the event in October at Kapi‘olani Regional Park, which raised more than $300,000 toward supporting our mission to promote the human-animal bond and the humane treatment of all animals. Find out more about the event on page 16-17.

Staying ahead of industry trends and implementing innovative programs is a top priority for our team. Launched in October 2022, our new short-term foster initiative for adult dogs, Couch Crashers, has been a resounding success. Couch Crashers engages the public as our partners to provide dogs with the best possible outcome while alleviating space constraints at our Mō‘ili‘ili campus. Through the program, members of the public may foster any dog older than six months for at least 72 hours and as long as two weeks.

The benefits of Couch Crashers are many:

• With the shelter population at a record high, moving dogs off of our campus and into temporary homes helps our team provide optimal care for the additional animals who arrive each day.

• Studies on dog behavior and health have shown that shortterm foster programs like Couch Crashers are especially beneficial for dogs, helping to reduce the stress common in a shelter environment. While Hawaiian Humane’s dedicated animal care specialists and volunteers provide shelter dogs with care and attention, moving these dogs into a loving home environment, even temporarily, profoundly impacts their well-being.

• The program also enables potential adopters to learn more about dogs they may be interested in before making a lifelong commitment.

To date, more than 90 dogs have participated in the program and 40 dogs have found loving permanent homes, including our own cover model, Brock (formerly Pawny). Brock was one of our early Couch Crashers who found his way to Keola Yap, Hawaiian Humane‘s own Special Events Coordinator.

“I had been keeping my eye on Brock for a while when Couch Crashers first started. I knew I had to foster him,” said Keola when asked about her experience with Couch Crashers. “In a couple of days, he made himself at home, snuggling and all. After a week of debating whether to adopt him or not, just thinking about bringing him back to campus made me sad. That’s when I knew that he was going to crash on the couch forever.

"The Couch Crashers program gives people like me, who are on the fence about adopting, the opportunity to get a feel for what it’s like having a specific dog in our home and to see if our personality and lifestyle are compatible. Now I can’t imagine my life without Brock.”

While Couch Crashers has been popular with people who are looking to adopt, compassionate animal lovers who have no intention of adopting are still urgently needed to help our dogs during this time of record-high numbers of dogs requiring our care. Learn more about fostering through Couch Crashers at HawaiianHumane.org/ couch-crashers.

In late November 2022, Hawaiian Humane celebrated another tremendous milestone – 25,000 spay/neuter surgeries performed at the organization’s Ginny Tiu Community Spay/Neuter Center.

“The Ginny Tiu Community Spay/ Neuter Center performing its 25,000th spay/neuter surgery is a monumental achievement,” said Dr. Kasey Carter, Veterinary Surgeon at Hawaiian Humane. “Waived or low-fee spay/neuter services are critically important to combating pet overpopulation, reducing shelter intakes and mitigating pet homelessness. Our team is proud to provide these accessible and affordable resources to our community and we look forward to celebrating more milestones in the years ahead.”

Opened in October 2018, the Ginny Tiu Community Spay/Neuter Center at Hawaiian Humane’s Mō‘ili‘ili campus was the first facility of its kind on O‘ahu, offering high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter services at significant cost savings to pet owners and Free-Roaming cat caregivers.

“I am more than happy to support this critical community resource,” said Ginny Tiu, esteemed Hawaiian Humane board member and lifelong animal welfare advocate for whom the Community Spay/ Neuter Center is named. “Homeless animals are incredibly vulnerable. We have a responsibility to reduce pet overpopulation in a humane and effective way. I am grateful to our amazing team at the Hawaiian Humane Society and thrilled that O‘ahu’s pet lovers are taking advantage of this resource to do what is right by our animals and to support our community.”

The Ginny Tiu Community Spay/Neuter Center is making a significant impact in curbing unwanted dog and cat populations. An average of 50 spay/neuter surgeries are performed by the Ginny Tiu Community Spay/Neuter

Center‘s skilled veterinary staff each day, with services offered for pet owners every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday by appointment. Friday appointments are available for community members who trap

Free-Roaming cats for spay/neuter. Procedures range in cost from $40 to $150 for pet cats and dogs, which includes pre-operative examination, anesthesia and surgery,, in addition to post-operative medication for dogs.

In the months ahead, our focus remains centered on the opening of our second campus in ‘Ewa Beach and expanding accessibility to our 30 programs and services. While we have always provided these resources island-wide, having a second campus will enable us to better serve West O‘ahu residents and animals in need of care.

We cannot wait to share the details on our grand opening in our next issue, but until then, we look forward to sharing the latest construction update with you on page 10-11.