Shelter defends animal killings
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
PU'UNENE, Maui — When animal control officers pulled up to a Ha'iku home Jan. 4 after a woman living there called for help because her dogs were fighting, they were unprepared for what they found inside the three-bedroom residence.
Even neighbors who had been filing complaints for at least two years about the noise and smell from the West Lelehuna Place home had no idea that 82 dogs and 14 cats were being kept as pets by Tim and Jean Bermudez. It took two teams of workers 10 hours to remove the animals and transport them to the Maui Humane Society animal shelter in Pu'unene.
With only 24 kennels, it was clear the facility could not accommodate the largest animal impoundment in Maui Humane Society history. Shelter officials began the heart-wrenching process of picking which animals would have to be destroyed and which would get a chance at adoption.
It's a life-or-death decision animal shelters around the state face daily. Thousands more dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and other unwanted or stray creatures are turned in to the shelters than can ever be placed in new homes.
Even so, the Maui Humane Society is responding to criticism that it was too quick to destroy 74 of the dogs and 12 of the cats it removed from the Ha'iku home.
Executive Director Keith Pocock said the condition of the animals and lack of kennel space left the agency no choice but to euthanize all but seven of the dogs and cats.
"Based on our policies and procedures, we did everything right," Pocock said.
Animal control officials said the animals were living in filth, and were destroyed because they were too sick and too unruly to be salvaged as potential pets — claims disputed by the Bermudezes, who are facing possible animal cruelty charges.
The Humane Society received a number of offers from neighbors, others in the community, and from residents of other islands to adopt some of the dogs. Neighbor Lisa Hudgens believes more dogs could have been saved if the organization had put out a public plea for help.
It's not that simple, Pocock said.
"They don't understand that when these dogs were surrendered to us, they became our liability," he said. "We didn't give these dogs to people because they wouldn't have been able to handle them. They had serious health problems and some were biters ... If one of these dogs were to bite a neighbor, who's the liability going to fall back on?"
Addressing those who feel the dogs should have been given a reprieve, Pocock said: "We have a lot of pleasant dogs here that are not adopted. Please come down here and get these animals who are loving and adoptable and friendly."
This is not the first time the Humane Society has received complaints that animals brought to the shelter are not given enough time before they are euthanized.
"We're not here to kill everything. We didn't create the situation," he said. "Beside the fact we're underfunded and understaffed, (the Ha'iku incident) would never have happened if people would just understand the pet overpopulation problem. This case brings it to light in one huge number, but what about the dogs that are here every day that are adoptable? Nobody comes to get them."
The Bermudezes' dogs were not examined by a veterinarian before decisions were made on which to destroy, said Shelter Manager Claire Sheehan. She said she gave the dogs a visual examination to determine their general condition and temperament. Sheehan said the dogs were evaluated with an eye "toward the adoption pool" and how they measured up in comparison with the animals already awaiting new homes.
Only nine of the Ha'iku dogs passed the visual screening. Sheehan said the majority were underweight, but not emaciated, and some had bite wounds, hair loss and other problems. One of the nine dogs tested positive for heartworms. That animal and another dog with a behavior problem were destroyed, leaving seven. Two have been put up for adoption, and the other five are in a holding area until their fate can be determined. Sheehan said most of the cats had symptoms of upper respiratory infection. Only two were initially saved, but now one of them has been diagnosed with feline AIDS, a fatal disease.
Jean Bermudez signed papers surrendering the animals to the Humane Society, but she said she never would have turned them over if she knew so many were going to be destroyed.
On Maui, more than half of the adoptable dogs handled by the Humane Society in the last fiscal year were destroyed because there was no room for them.
During that period, 647 dogs and 772 cats were adopted, while 723 dogs and 392 cats that were deemed adoptable had to be euthanized. Overall, the animal shelter accepted 11,605 animals during the year, an average of 32 a day.
The survival odds for felines should improve significantly with next month's opening of the animal shelter's $240,000 cat facility, which will double capacity to 100 cats. The facility was built entirely from donations.
There are no plans for expansion of dog kennels. The animal shelter has 12 kennels that hold up to two adult dogs each, and 12 puppy kennels that can hold anywhere from two to eight animals each.
Mayor James "Kimo" Apana said his administration has been supportive of the Humane Society, increasing its funding from $554,000 in the past fiscal year to $800,000. Under its contract with the county, the Maui Humane Society runs the animal shelter and adoption program, provides animal control services and investigates animal cruelty cases. The county money also covers discount spay-neuter programs.
The organization also relies on donations and fund-raising to meet its roughly $1.5 million budget.
The Hawaiian Humane Society on O'ahu receives $1.5 million from the City & County of Honolulu for animal control services. An additional $500,000 goes to veterinarians who operate the spay-neuter program. The society's budget is $3.8 million, which includes about $1.1 million in contributions. Demands for animal control services have been so great in recent years that they have been partially underwritten by private donations, said spokeswoman Eve Holt.
The Hawaiian Humane Society handled nearly 32,000 animals last year, with a capacity at its Mo'ili'ili shelter of between 120 and 150 animals. A veterinarian examines every animal brought to the shelter.
The agency occasionally is confronted with mass impoundments, such as one that occurred in 1995 when more than 200 cats were seized from a Nu'uanu home. The cost of that operation, which included setting up emergency shelters, reached more than $55,000, but most of the cats were saved.
"We are a much larger organization with more resources,'' Holt said. Still, about 800 dogs and cats made available for adoption by the Hawaiian Humane Society were euthanized in fiscal 2000.
On the Big Island, a National Animal Control Association study last year concluded that the Hawai'i Island Humane Society needed more money and people.
The agency will receive $778,000 this year to pick up strays, remove dead animals, and run adoption programs and shelter operations in Kea'au, Waimea and Kealakehe in North Kona. The program handles 15,000 animals annually.
Grayson Hashida, executive director of the Hawai'i Island Humane Society, said the shelters usually are operating at capacity, housing a total of 185 dogs and 135 cats. An average of 40 dogs a day are brought to the shelters, Hashida said, and decisions on euthanasia are made every day, with space being a major variable. Thirty percent of the adoptable animals are destroyed, he said.
In response to recommendations, Mayor Harry Kim has ordered that animal control duties be transferred to the Police Department effective July 1.
Ironically, the least populated county in the state has the biggest animal shelter. The new $3.2 million Kaua'i Humane Society facility opened in July with 73 kennels, a third of which are used for a quarantine program. Each kennel can house two adult dogs.
The building actually is too big, and was designed based on inflated statistics that resulted in the firing of the agency's former executive director and a debt that officials are still wondering how they're going to pay. The Kaua'i Humane Society receives nearly $500,000 in county money for animal control duties.
Still, new Executive Director Rebecca Rhoades said she could use more officers and programs.
"I don't think government places a priority on animal control services the way it should,'' Rhoades said. "Over half our residents have pets, but we don't get the kind of funding other services do.''
Maui Humane Society officials agree they were unprepared to handle the large number of animals removed from the Ha'iku home. Pocock said his staff held a debriefing to discuss how the situation was handled. One idea is to devise a contingency plan for future mass impoundments that would include identifying facilities or trained individuals in the community who could provide temporary shelter.
Advertiser staff writer Timothy Hurley contributed to this report. Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
Correction: About 800 dogs and cats made available for adoption by the Hawaiian Humane Society were euthanized in fiscal 2000. Also, county funding for the Kaua'i Humane Society is $500,000. The figures were incorrect in a previous version of this story.
