Some intersting facts about the HHS that I learned prior to our trip:
They are a private, non-profit shelter that operates on donations
They are an open admission facility
They are open 24/7....365 days a year
They do not euthanize for time or space - only for severe medical/behavior
After learning those 4 facts (2 of which IndyHumnane also shares), I was especially interested to learn more.
KENNEL SIGNAGE
Available animals all have the same color cage card like below
They observe a similiar stray period for animals brought into their shelter. However, rather than keeping the animal out of public view they go ahead and place the animal on the adoption floor (once cleared by medical/behavior). If a patron is interested in adopting an animal in the stray period, after the applicant is approved then the animal receives a pink cage card with a stage/status of "Finder Wants". If the stray period expires and the owner does not reclaim the animal, then the patron is able to adopt.
All dogs are walked twice a day by volunteers. Rather than using a walking log, after a walk the kennel signage is updated like below:
Some other signage
Each morning EZ walk harnesses are placed on the dogs
DOG KENNELS
Here are some pictures of their kennels. They are long and are mostly uncovered, but do provide a cover near the back. This is Hawaii, so obviously they can keep the animals outdoors all the time.
Upon entering into the shelter, you find yourself on a giant patio with puppies and small breed dogs.
They pretty much take in all kinds of animals, so they also had some turtles and birds available.
CAT HOUSE
They have a seperate building that houses their cats. Most cats are housed in multi-housing rooms, but there are some in cages.
Instead of windows, the cats had wire fencing allowing them to have constant fresh air and outdoor views.
Each "Kitty Room" had a sign on the door with the maximum number of patrons that were allowed inside at a time
Some pictures inside the cat rooms
Those in cages were in double sided cages similiar to our cages in CC1. The cages had stainless steel shelves built into them. I forgot to get a picture.
ADOPTION COUNSELOR DESKS
Throughout the shelter there were educational signs on pet ownership, pet facts, how to approach dogs, laws, etc
DOG PARK
DONOR WALL
MEMORIAL SIDEWALK TILES
Patrons are allowed to come and visit with animals even if not considering adoption. They do not need to sign in or anything. However, if they wish to do any business (visit with an animal, sit with a counselor, get a walk in microchip, apply for a license, etc) they have a signup sheet at the front desk. Patrons put their name, the time and select what they want. If they are interested in a particular animal they put the animals # or cage number (this is instead of pulling cage cards). The desk staff calls patrons in order they signed in on the sheet. They also page the appropriate staff member: if a counselor is needed they page a counselor, if the patron wants to see a dog they page a volunteer/staffer to take that dog into a particular "Aquantinance Yard" to meet the patron, etc.
They do not have an adoption application for patrons to complete. The application is completed verbally during counseling. As the counselor asks questions they enter the information into their computer. I found this interesting...but I guess it could increase the chances of more truthful answers/information being given by patrons. They do not hesitate to deny adoptions and make sure patrons are making good matches. Other than those animals placed on hold during the stray period, they do not allow holds. They do encourage patrons to visit more than once with an animal to be certain. I can not remember if they require dog intros, but I know they at least strongly encourage and emphasize the importance of them with patrons.
All of their animals are microchipped and altered prior to adoption.
STAFFING
Each of these departments have a staff of about 5 full-time: Adoptions, Admissions and Community Relations. The veterinary team includes two veterinarians and about 10 technicians and caregivers. The investigations and rescue team totals about 10 with 3 on duty at any given time for service to all of Oahu.
FOSTER CARE
They have a foster care program with 3 components:
(1) Shelter Animals - for underweight/underage or ill animals as we do. Because they are open admission they can obviuosly run out of kennel space - fosters are used in such instances.
(2) Emergency Pet Fostering program, similiar to our previous PetSafe program, in which those animals are placed into foster rather than in the shelter.
(3) Pets of Patriots Fostering - a temporary fostering program for deployed military personnal.
PET PANTRY
They have a pet pantry that requires an application. Once the application is approved, patrons are contacted based on food availability.
FERAL CAT STERILIZATION PROGRAM
Patrons my purchase or pay a fee to borrow traps. They offer discounted spay/neuter fees for patrons that trap and bring in cats for the shelter vets to alter. The fee includes a microchip
INVESTIGATORS
As mentioned they are open admission and are open 24/7. They have officers that work to accept animals during those odd hours. Their officers are deputized by the Honolulu Police Department.
SENIOR ADOPTIONS
Patrons over 60 adopt senior animals for free (dogs/cats over the age of 6)
LICENSING
Law requires that cats have ID and that only dogs over the age of 4 months wear a county issued license tag. The license simply requires completion of an application (is not tied to the rabies vaccine). The price a patron pays for the license depends on whether or not the dog is altered (altered dogs are cheaper) and the age of the dog.
I wish I had planned my visit better and maybe tried to arrange a tour and the opportunity to talk with a manager. During my visit to the different islands I noticed a great "toleration" for feral cats.....and chickens. We would often see signs (and were cautioned by tour operators) not to feed the feral cats or chickens - I think it may have been against the law? Not sure. But the people didn't seem to treat either of them as pests.
I didn't get the chance to ask about vaccinations, intake or evaluation process, behavior assessments (I know they have a behavior team and assessment process)...and a lot more I was interested in finding out for comparison.
I was impressed at everything I saw/heard. They are very lucky to have the weather that they have since this allows them to keep the animals outdoors. Of course it was pretty - it's Hawaii! But the cleanliness of our shelter, and how nice it looks, is top notch. A lot of it seemed too good to be true, and I wondered how they could do it all. So I had to ask the big question: "how many animals do they typically have in their system"........
Brace yourselves..................................................................................
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The least they might have in their system at a time: 10 cats and 17 dogs
The most they might have.......... 20 some cats and 35 some dogs
:)
It was a nice visit and very interesting to see how they operate.
Here is a picture of one of the many feral chickens we encoutered during our trip
Their website: http://www.hawaiianhumane.org/
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