When the Hawaii Island Humane Society suspended adoptions of dogs to Big Island rescue organizations this week, individuals went underground to adopt animals themselves and turn them over to the organization that transports the dogs to shelters on the mainland.
One such dog, a border collie mix named Hannah, would have been the 100th dog that Big Island Dog Rescue would have adopted from the society for shipment to a shelter in the Northwest. Following Monday’s moratorium, however, BIDR’s founder Tasi Autele said he was turned away when he requested custody of the animal.
Autele estimated he was contacted by 45 people offering to adopt Hannah in their own name and turn her over to him for transport.
Two other dogs were adopted out of the Keaau shelter this week for the same purpose.
“I went over and I went underground,” said the Ka‘u resident who declined to be named. “They’re going to be part of the crew that flies to Oregon. I’m going back next week with a friend. I’ll do this as many times as I have to.”
Hannah will fly to Oregon with Dean Cox, manager of the Columbia Humane Society in St. Helens. The society has been the destination of the majority of BIDR transports since the rescue began operating in February — the island’s first to transport dogs to the mainland.
Cox joined about 30 people in front of the Kona shelter on Saturday to protest the temporary moratorium put in place Monday — one which HIHS board members decided is necessary while a framework is forged spelling out legal responsibilities, transport guidelines and standards of care at the receiving facilities on the mainland. The society’s executive director Donna Whitaker said the measure is necessary to ensure the animals are treated properly.
The Big Island’s shelters are overburdened, though, and some worry that dogs will die in the interim.
While the HIHS has determined it cannot responsibly continue to allow rescue organizations to put dogs on planes without a system for vetting how they are transported and where they go, Cox said it doesn’t make sense to stop the flow of dogs from crowded shelters to facilities on the mainland that can’t get enough of them — shelters that have adoption rates around 95 percent.
“Is it better that you kill them here?” Cox asked. “It is boggling that a facility that has a surplus wants to get in the way of people who want to do transport.”
The HIHS looks forward to strengthening its relationship with rescue organizations, Whitaker said in an email.
“The HIHS board is earnestly working on completing its review and updating our standardized protocols. The board expects to have completed its due diligence and best practices review within a week, give or take a few days,” she said. “The rise in the number of rescue organizations and the number of animals adopted recently has the potential to increase substantially.”
Autele said he had recently learned that the humane society was exploring the possibility of doing its own transports to the mainland and speculated that the society was trying to freeze him and the other rescues out.
The society is not competing with the rescue organizations, Whitaker asserted; instead, it applauds their recent success and recognizes the role they can play in reducing euthanasia on the island.
“We are all working toward bettering the lives of the animals,” Whitaker said. “Just as we work with rescue organizations, we too have, and will continue, to expand shelter-to-shelter adoptions. These require air transportation. Yes, we are in contact with airlines to ship animals.”
The Hawaii Island Humane Society took in 6,362 dogs in the fiscal year ending last month. Of these, 3,189 were euthanized, according to data requested from the society and supplied to West Hawaii Today on Saturday. Another 1,968 dogs were adopted and 1,059 were reunited with their families. The euthanasia figure does not include those requested by owners.
About 1,900 people have signed an online petition calling on the humane society to resume adoptions to the Big Island rescues.
Debbie Cravatta, founder of Kohala Animal Relocation and Education Service, said she has been flooded with calls by people offering to go underground to make sure she is supplied with animals to adopt out.
“The outcry is amazing,” she said.
Protesters waved signs reading “Don’t let them die when they can fly,” and “Let us rescue.” One man stopped his vehicle and handed over $100.
Across the street from the protest, a sign was hung at the entrance to the shelter reading “We support Donna Whitaker.”
Whitaker said the society’s goal of reducing euthanasia can’t be met through increasing adoptions alone, and said the organization has spent $40,000 more this past year on spay and neuter surgeries than the year prior, increasing the program steadily over five years.
But others say the society needs to do much more to reduce the number of dogs that are put to sleep at the island’s three shelters.
A Waikoloa Village resident who did not want to be identified said she was preparing to cloak her true motives next week while adopting a dog to turn over to Autele and BIDR for transport.
She said: “It’s sad it comes to this.”