I am writing today to show my immense dissatisfaction with the Hawaii Island Humane Society. Its 70 percent euthanasia rate shows that there is nothing humane in what has been done within its facilities. They have been running an organization
I am writing today to show my immense dissatisfaction with the Hawaii Island Humane Society. Its 70 percent euthanasia rate shows that there is nothing humane in what has been done within its facilities. They have been running an organization that receives $2.1 million annually in public funds with no public oversight for long enough.
The HIHS has manipulated its statistics to make it appear that it is not killing as many adoptable animals as it does. The reality is that HIHS takes in around 14,000 animals a year and kills approximately 10,000 of them. That comes to a whopping 71 percent kill rate. The staff claims that the majority were mongoose, chickens and un-adoptable animals. The county awards the HIHS $2.1 million of our tax dollars every year to continue this heinous practice. There is no oversight from the county of the $2.1 million that is awarded to the HIHS to act as the animal control contractor for the island.
The HIHS will tell you that euthanasia is necessary to help control the pet population on the Big Island, but they are not willing to work with all of the other animal welfare groups on the island to lower that rate. Donna Whitaker refuses to work with KARES or BIDR.
The council needs to know that Dr. Elizabeth Jose, the veterinarian on the board of the HIHS, does not accept the low cost spay/neuter vouchers sold by the HIHS at her Kona office. This is important because Jose stated on the Island Issues radio program that spay/neuter is the single most important issue on the island for animal population control and that nearly every veterinarian on the island accepts the vouchers. She does not. She is not following the mission statement of the HIHS.
The County Council needs to immediately appoint an oversight committee whose members are drawn from the rescue community (including KARES and BIDR) working in a non-adversarial partnership to oversee the workings of the HIHS.
The euthanasia rate needs to be reduced down to 10 to 15 percent with a goal of no-kill. As a 100 percent intake shelter, no-kill is not truly feasible, but it is an admirable goal that should be strived for.
The County Council must demand an honest reporting of statistics, conduct in-depth quality control and performance reviews of HIHS annually. The council must require the immediate resignation of the director or any board member who refuses to meet the community’s demand for low/no kill and work diligently to make that vision a reality.
The board and the shelter director have stonewalled long enough. They have killed thousands of animals with no repercussions. It is time for the council to make it clear that enough is enough. As a taxpayer, I am appalled that my tax dollars are being used to fund the wholesale slaughter of healthy animals that could be shipped to mainland shelters where they could find loving homes. Shame on the HIHS. Shame on the County Council. It’s time for the slaughter of our island animals to stop. It is time for the HIHS to change.
Pamela Small is a resident of Waimea.
My Turn articles are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of West Hawaii Today.
