By Dec. 29, 2016, the Hawaiian Humane Society had officially adopted out all of its animals at its Honolulu shelter for the year, meeting their 2016 goal, according to their Facebook page.
The very last animal to be adopted was a dog named Beauty. In a Facebook video on the society’s page, volunteers came together to give Beauty a farewell by forming a human tunnel. Volunteers stood in two parallel lines, faced each other, and put their hands up while Beauty walked through.
Suzy Tam, the communications coordinator for the shelter, told Huffington Post, “It was the first time in Hawaiian Humane history that our shelter has cleared out all the animals available for adoption.”
The “Clear the Shelter” four-day initiative included waived adoption fees for all animals and just in the course of two days, 24 pets were adopted, as reported by Hawaii News Now. Tam said the community has been very supportive and wanting to adopt.
The shelter did not stay empty for long. The HHS has an open-admission policy, meaning that it will never turn away any animal that is dropped off at its shelter. Tam told Huffington Post, “It can receive up to 65 new animals every day.”
Beka Frome, a senior in biology from Montana, was one of the many visitors of the HHS to help save an animal’s life last year. She shared the story of how she helped save a dog named Bucky.
“I was riding my bike home one night and I saw a stray dog by the temple. I got off my bike to see if it was lost. I noticed she didn’t have a collar and she looked very sick. All her fur was falling off and she had fleas,” said Frome.
Frome said she called many phone numbers, including Animal Control and the HHS, but because it was a Sunday night, none were open. “My roommate brought Lucky some cheese and she followed us home. We gave her water and more food and she slept on our porch the whole night.”
The next morning Frome and her friends drove down to Honolulu and dropped Lucky off at the HHS. She said, “They were really sweet to her. They checked to see if she had a micro-chip and she didn’t.” They said they thought Lucky didn’t have an owner, or if she did, they had long abandoned her because of the state she was in.
“The people at the shelter were very professional. They were really nice and they treated Lucky with respect and love,” said Frome. Despite the long wait, she said it was nice to see so many caring people talking care of animals of all shapes and sizes. “I knew we left her in good hands. Even though I was with Lucky for a short amount of time, I really grew to love her.”
During a phone interview, the HHS Humane Education Manager Mandi DeSouza said there are educational programs and opportunities BYU-Hawaii students can take advantage of to help, even if they are not allowed to own a pet on campus. She said, “We hold volunteer trainings that train community members and college students. This is the ideal market to help us to provide trainings, programs, and presentations to the youth throughout our island.”
To learn more about opportunities or to contact the society, visit their website at hawaiianhumane.org.
Writer: Leslie Owusu