HIHS cares deeply for its animals

To our community,

The mission of the Hawaii Island Humane Society is to prevent cruelty, eliminate pet overpopulation, and enhance the bond between humans and animals. HIHS is an open admission shelter and that means no animal is ever turned away. We always have shelter, food and kind words for every animal that crosses our threshold. Many of the animals that come to us are injured or ill. On admission, every animal is vaccinated and receives immediate treatment for internal and external parasites. Animals that require medical care are evaluated by a licensed veterinarian. We care deeply and they are the reason that we continue to stand behind our organization’s decision to examine best practices and determine policy on the framework for how to achieve excellent outcomes for the animals, rescue organizations and HIHS.

HIHS applauds the success of rescue organizations and the significant role they can play in our goal of reducing animal euthanasia on Hawaii Island. There aren’t enough homes on island to handle all the dogs, cats and other adoptable animals that arrive at our shelter doors every year. Experts across the nation agree that shelters cannot adopt their way out of animal overpopulation. The fastest way to reduce euthanasia is by decreasing the number of unwanted animals through spay and neuter. At HIHS, our spay and neuter surgeries have steadily increased over the last five years.

HIHS does euthanize thousands of animals. If you are outraged by this, then we have something in common. No one, not us — not you, ever wants to put a healthy animal to sleep. Help us spread the word that it is up to our community to end the continued progression of pitifully sick, injured and unwanted animals into all of our island shelters. This is a people problem, one that can only be solved by responsible animal owners. For anyone to accuse HIHS of intentionally euthanizing animals for profit has never experienced the heartbreak HIHS staff members endure every day. The community has made progress toward achieving HIHS’ goal of never having to euthanize a healthy, adoptable animal. We will continue our work and there is much to be done.

Working with rescue organizations requires oversight. The HIHS Board has completed its review and updated our standardized protocols. We are puzzled on the negative aggression directed at HIHS and our Executive Director Donna Whitaker in response to this temporary hiatus. Whitaker’s leadership is exemplary and our support is unwavering. Two weeks is a very fast turnaround for board review and deliberation. We have stated, and restated, that healthy, adoptable animals will not be euthanized during this timeout. Yes, our shelters are packed and yes we can make room for a few weeks.

The rise in the number of rescue organizations and the number of animals adopted recently has the potential to increase substantially. HIHS hopes that more rescue organizations with the capacity to adopt will partner with us to save more animals. And as an organization, we need to be ready. HIHS is not in competition with rescue organizations, we are all working toward bettering the lives of animals.

Can HIHS improve? Of course, we continually strive to improve our organization and the outcome of each and every animal who crosses our doorstep.

Susy Ruddle is president of the Hawaii Island Humane Society Board of Directors.

Viewpoint articles are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of West Hawaii Today.