The surviving owner of the Leeward Coast animal shelter where more than 400 dogs, cats and birds were housed in a no-kill sanctuary has filed a lawsuit against several local and national animal welfare organizations, including the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Norman Pang, whose wife operated a no-kill animal sanctuary on their Nanakuli property before she died in July, is suing for damages and to require the organizations to remove all photographs and video of the Animal Haven operation from the Web.

Pang's suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, claims that the organizations and their representatives have defamed him and that he has been deprived of his rights.

Photographs and video taken at the time the animals were removed from the home in July have shown up on the Web site of the Humane Society of the United States, describing the shelter as a "hoarding situation."

Still photographs from the Web site have since appeared on the Hawaiian Humane Society Web site along with negative characterizations of Animal Haven as a "hoarding/breeding operation."

Kawehi Yim, spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Humane Society, said yesterday that the lawsuit is "unfounded and diverts resources from our mission of helping animals. Keeping more animals than you can properly care for, resulting in suffering, neglect and abuse, is a crime that should be punished."

In July, animal welfare agencies took control of the animals at the shelter formerly run by Pang's wife, Bonnie. Norman Pang had signed a surrender statement giving the O'ahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ownership of the animals in the sanctuary. The O'ahu SPCA requested help from the Hawaiian Humane Society. It took five days for welfare agencies to orchestrate what's been described as the largest animal rescue operation in O'ahu's history.

Pang, who has not been cited, arrested or charged, faces possible prosecution for animal cruelty, even though some animal activists say that's not justified and that Pang cooperated with the rescue operation.

"They have fabricated a case to get footage," said Michael Ostendorp, Pang's attorney. "The haven was a hospice facility, not a kennel. The Pangs have always been critical of the Hawaiian Humane Society's euthanasia policy."

Ostendorp said the animal welfare groups conspired against Pang to get the photographic evidence they needed to "fabricate evidence of animal abuse," as the lawsuit states.

The Pangs have had a running dispute with the Hawaiian Humane Society over two decades. In 1995, the Humane Society took Bonnie Pang to court on charges of cruelty to animals, although a judge dismissed the case.

Both sides will meet in federal court. The animal welfare agencies have 20 days to respond to the lawsuit.