Hawaii Island Humane Society board president Adam Atwood states “good news” HIHS eliminated nearly all killing of healthy dogs and non-feral cats as part of an initiative. Thank KARES and Big Island Dog Rescue for their contribution. BIDR adopted 180 dogs/KARES adopted 100-plus finding homes through their adoption/transport programs. Killing could have been eliminated had HIHS not initiated the adoption embargo/partnership contract in 2015. The contract had little to do with protecting animals, functioning as a gag contract.
HIHS intakes and dispositions for 2014-2015 reveal a different scenario.
• Dog intake 6,675/ killed 3,436.
• Cat intake 6,496/killed 5,249.
• Other intake 2,211/killed 1,930
• Total killed 2014-2015 – 10,615.
Percentage killed:
51 percent dogs/81 percent cats.
Meaning 72 percent of animals received by HIHS are killed. HIHS ranks as a high kill shelter with some of the worst save rates in the nation.
Understand terminology: Category usage: “adoptable” means healthy, well-adjusted over the age of 8 weeks. If during an animal’s stay it becomes ill or injured, or develops a behavior problem it is no longer “adoptable.”
Treatable means “rehabilitatable,” meaning animals not “healthy,” but can become “healthy” via medical treatment or behavioral training.
Killing breakdown by HIHS:
• 124 adoptable dogs/38 cats
• 2,371 treatable dogs/1,347 treatable cats/140 other
• Non-rehabilitatable 694 dogs/3,785 cats /1,775 other
• Owner request 247 dogs/79 cats/15 other
It’s not difficult to save 162 dogs/cats and claim the killing stopped. Truth is in the data, which is manipulated by categorizing the bulk of animals as “treatable” or “non-rehabilitatable” justifying the continued killing. Categorizing has a major flaw preventing it from being an accurate reporting tool: it leaves it up to the shelter to decide what they consider “unhealthy” or “untreatable.” This is absurd. Don’t want to bother saving cats with ringworm, dogs with mange or kittens/puppies under 8 weeks old? Classify them as “unhealthy” and kill them. Progressive shelters no longer measure their success using classifications. Success is measured by a model called LRR (live release rate) of all animals admitted to their shelters. Shelters are considered successful by achieving a LRR of 90 percent or higher. There are over 300 shelters sustaining a LRR of 90 percent or higher.
Residents must know that despite millions of taxpayer dollars given to HIHS annually there has never been an assessment to get our pet population under control. An assessment would give us the expertise needed to stop the killing. It would bring all stakeholders to the table equitably, with all parties being integral to the solution. It would invite public participation utilizing the talents of rescue organizations in a coherent, effective and efficient manner. We would have a plan. It would save thousands of animals from being needlessly killed.
Spay/neuter is only part of the solution. Specific programs need to be utilized and rigorously implemented to stop the killing. Adoptions are one powerful lifesaving tool. KARES and BIDR could transfer every adoptable dog to homes here and in the Pacific Northwest, freeing up HIHS resources for “treatable” animals.
I commend HIHS for spaying/neutering animals before adoption. That is where the majority of the 4,746 spay/ neuter surgeries were done. Spay/neuter outreach is done by island organizations. KARES, Huipono holoholona, Rainbow Friends, AdvoCats and Catsnip do the work in the trenches, conducting spay/neuter clinics for decades. The clinics include pick up/drop off, wellness checks, vaccines, flea treatment and for the poorest a meal. Clinics are conducted monthly, staffed by volunteers and supported by donations and grants. Is it true none of these organizations was invited to participate in the spay/neuter event set up by HIHS? Instead, HIHS went outside our community to plan what these organizations have been doing successfully for decades.
The letter closes with the misleading statement “let’s finish up with the best news” you and I can solve pet overpopulation on Hawaii Island without killing by spay/neuter.
That’s a veiled way of blaming the public, and simplifying the issue. It shifts responsibility onto the public to stop the killing. Killing is a choice HIHS makes rather than implementing lifesaving alternatives. This statement is woefully uninformed and intentionally deceptive. Do Atwood and director Donna Whitaker really believe this is factual? If that is the case they don’t possess the qualifications to lead our community out of this hideous mess. We need an assessment to give us a plan, and a community oversight committee to be sure the plan is implemented. It is decades overdue.
Ana Nawahine-Kaho’opi’i is a resident of Waimea.
My Turn opinions are those of the writer and not of West Hawaii Today