KAILUA-KONA — An expanded clinic at the Animal Community Center currently underway in Keauhou will give the Hawaii Island Humane Society increased capacity to hold stray animals and provide spay and neutering services.
The Leeward Planning Commission Thursday morning unanimously approved the organization’s request to amend a permit to allow the clinic to expand 11-fold over what was initially proposed several years ago.
“I wholeheartedly support this project,” said commission member Nancy Carr Smith after the vote. “It sounds wonderful. It sounds very ambitious, and I’m sure it will help a lot of animals.”
The Leeward Planning Commission first gave the Humane Society the go-ahead on the Animal Community Center in 2011, when they approved the group’s plan to convert a former quarry and bonsai nursery in Keauhou into a new facility on the 12-acre site.
The project included renovation of the existing structures associated with the former bonsai visitor center to be reused as an administration building, welcome center and a cattery to shelter cats, according to a presentation at Thursday’s meeting.
The plan also called for the construction of an education center, veterinary clinic, dog kennel building, retail area and caretaker’s cottage.
Now, the amended permit will allow the Hawaii Island Humane Society to enlarge the proposed clinic from about 1,500 square feet to about 16,650 square feet.
Once complete, said Humane Society leadership, it’ll be a big upgrade from the 1-acre site near the Kealakehe Police Station.
“Our current 1-acre location by the police station and the landfill in Kona is very hot, too small, it’s poorly located and, in the event of a fire, all of the animals have to be evacuated for their safety, which is, as you can imagine, problematic to us,” board president Adam Atwood told the commission.
The new facility, he said, can decrease the number of euthanizations by offering more capacity for stray animals as well as increase spay and neuter services at the on-site clinic.
The site will also provide outdoor facilities, such as a 2-acre dog park, a small animal park and walking trails among other features for residents to bring their pets.
“One of the main complaints that we hear is lack of recreational areas for people to enjoy with their dogs,” Atwood said.
With the request to increase the size of the clinic, the Humane Society said that would include additional stray dog and cat housing.
While the original permit would have allowed 2,300 square feet for housing stray cats and kennels to house as many as 60 dogs, the new request increases the cat shelter to 2,880 square feet and increases kennel capacity to house as many as 125 dogs.
The clinic will also include multiple surgery suites, Atwood said, where veterinary staff will be able to do increased spay and neuter surgeries “and provide the highest standard of care for sick and injured animals.”
“Eliminating pet overpopulation in West Hawaii can only be sustained through aggressive spay-and-neuter initiatives,” Atwood said.
After the commission unanimously approved the request, Hawaii Island Humane Society executive director Donna Whitaker said the amended permit will give them a chance to not only accommodate more strays awaiting adoption in West Hawaii, but also help the organization’s other shelters around the island that are overcapacity and give them “a little more breathing room.”
“We do that now,” she said, “but we’ll have more room to do more of that.”
And with the increased capacity for spay and neuter surgeries, Whitaker said, the organization will also be increasing both its veterinary staff and Humane Society staff overall.
“A 12-acre location is going to require quite a few more people,” she said.