Humane Societies Help Reunite Pets and Owners, Find Foster Homes After Kona Low Storms

Rescuing endangered animals during the Kona Low flooding in March was difficult and hazardous enough, but that was just the first part of the Hawaiian Humane Society’s storm-related efforts. What followed was caring for the animals, locating their owners and, for those whose owners couldn’t be located, finding them new homes.

Christopher Casey, an animal protection officer with the nonprofit humane society, says he waded through murky waist-deep water when he searched for animals for several days in Waialua with a rescue team that included two colleagues. Their work across the flooded farmlands was unlike anything they had experienced before, he says.

“The terrain was our biggest obstacle,” says Casey. “The first couple days, it was pretty hard, because it was almost inaccessible.”

Once, their truck got stuck in the mud, but they pushed the vehicle out and rescued four puppies that day.

Humane society staff and volunteers set up food banks for animals in areas where people were stranded and provided pet food, medicine and leashes when needed.

“I don’t think anybody realized the severity of the storm (beforehand). It was so sudden, so everybody kind of just evacuated… grab and go,” Casey says.

Hawaiian Humane volunteers prep donated food and supplies. Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Humane Society

Reuniting pets with their owners has been challenging because none of the animals that Casey rescued had been microchipped or wore collars with identifying information. The rescued pets that are being temporarily cared for by the humane society are listed at hawaiianhumane.org/found-pets so that they can be reconnected with their families. Other animals in their care at either campus are listed at hawaiianhumane.org/stray-animals.

Rescued animals received medical attention, and all were held for at least two weeks to give families time to retrieve them. If families needed more time, the Hawaiian Humane Society says, it worked with owners to extend their pets’ stays.

Unclaimed animals were medically and behaviorally evaluated, microchipped and vaccinated, says Anna Neubauer, Hawaiian Humane Society president and CEO.

Some are still available for adoption, and others were placed in foster homes or transferred to rescue partners, a network of local rescue organizations that includes Fur-Angel Foundation, Cat People of Oahu, PAWS of Hawaiʻi and many more.

“We really want to be able to help get families reunited,” Neubauer says.

The organization is helping people who, for now, are unable to take back their pets — often those who “have lost everything” — by contacting boarding facilities across Oʻahu and seeking funding from private donors to cover the full costs of extended boarding, Neubauer says.

The rescue team provided animals with nutrition and took many into their care. Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Humane Society

Before being boarded, a pet must be spayed or neutered and vaccinated, which the nonprofit will do for free with the pet guardian’s consent. The society can also provide health certificates for people who need to take their pets off-island.

Nikki Russell, interim CEO at the Maui Humane Society, says her organization took in over 400 animals last year because of a lack of pet-friendly housing. Now, “with the storms damaging pet-friendly homes, it’s just making things that much more difficult,” she says.

When Russell was interviewed, Maui Humane Society was caring for 110 dogs but had only 43 kennels; 45 of those dogs were placed in foster homes. (Many dogs are not capable of sharing a kennel.)

The Maui organization supported the Maui Emergency Management Agency during and after the storm, rather than conducting its own rescues, Russell says. That support included providing dishes and pop-up kennels for people forced to evacuate.

Russell says the nonprofit also has been helping with recovery efforts in Hāna and on Molokaʻi, two remote communities hit hard by the storms. On Molokaʻi, Maui Humane Society’s kennels were filled with mud.

Russell says the storms discouraged a lot of people from visiting the Islands, creating even more hardships for residents who depend on tourism for their livelihoods. “It feels very reminiscent of Covid,” says Russell.

She’s quick to thank donors and volunteers, and asks that volunteers continue to foster pets and provide food and health care. “It helps us help people,” she says.