The Kauaʻi Humane Society has no more space for pets — and is asking the public for help.
The organization is currently housing 578 animals — it reported to the Kauaʻi County Council this week — but only employs seven full-time animal care technicians.
That means each technician has to care for more than 80 animals, which are crammed into kennels.
“ We work shifts from 6 o'clock in the morning until 6 o'clock at night. That's seven days a week. They're there cleaning, feeding and taking care of the animals,” Padraic Gallagher, the humane society’s executive director, told the council on Wednesday.
Overcrowding is an issue at animal shelters across the state, but it’s reaching a tipping point at KHS, which has seen an increase in pet surrenders since the COVID-19 pandemic, Gallagher said. Periodic overcrowding has forced the organization to euthanize some of its sicker or older animals.
He said it’s nearing that level of overcrowding again.
“It's one of those things that’s day-by-day. You know, if we got in a litter of puppies, we would probably be over that tipping point. We're just below that threshold … where I don't know what we'll do, because we're an open-admission shelter. And there's only so much water you can put in a bucket,” Gallagher said.
He told the council that more pets are being surrendered than are being adopted. He also said that there are fewer volunteers to help with the organization’s work.
KHS reached out to the county council to get the word out about its situation, and is asking the public to adopt or foster pets, or volunteer with the humane society. Aside from that, he said the most helpful thing the public can do is spay or neuter their pets.
Gallagher said policymakers can help by adding incentives for pet owners to spay and neuter their animals, encouraging landlords to allow pets in rental units, and providing resources for KHS.
There are a few state-level measures introduced this session that could help, including House Bill 1267, which would grant landlords a general excise tax exemption for each unit with a long-term tenant who owns a pet.
