Clear the shelters at the Hawaiian Humane Society

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Brandy Shimabukuro joined Take 2 to share details on a new adoption event.

“Clear the Shelters month is happening now through September 10, 2024. Clear the Shelters is a nationwide adoption event and awareness campaign in partnership with NBCUniversal, Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Greater Good Charities to promote pet adoption and engage the public’s help with what has become a nationwide shelter space crisis. The Hawaiian Humane Society is one of hundreds of shelters participating nationwide, and our goal this year is to reach 808 adoptions by September 10. Right now, we’re offering completely waived adoption fees for all animals older than seven months, but I can exclusively share that on Friday, August 16, we’ll be completely waiving all adoption fees for all animals at all of Hawaiian Humane’s adoption locations in the hopes that we can get as many shelter pets into loving homes as possible.

The two kittens who joined Brandy will be available in a few short weeks. Named Cutter and Skywise, they are Brandy’s ten-week-old foster kittens who were brought into the Hawaiian Humane Society after being found by a good samaritan, abandoned under a forklift at a storage facility. You would never guess by their fiesty, energetic personalities today, but these resilient little guys have been through so much. Brandy shares, “In addition to working at Hawaiian Humane, I’m also a member of their Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, trained volunteers who care for neonate kittens. I’ve been fostering them since they were six days old, before their eyes had even opened. They needed to be bottle fed every couple of hours and required round-the-clock care. Because Hawaiian Humane is an open admissions shelter, we take in anything and everything, even those like Cutter and Skywise who came in so vulnerable and sick with a parasitic infection. After several rounds of treatment, these little fighters are now completely healthy, and will soon be neutered, and made available for adoption. In fact, there are dozens upon dozens of kittens like Cutter and Skywise who have been raised in Itty Bitty Kitty Committee foster homes who are now available for adoption at both our Mōʻiliʻili Campus, Kosasa Family Campus at Hoʻopili and our off-site partners, Pounce Hawaiʻi and select PETCOs islandwide.”

Brandy also explained the importance of the adoption events the Humane Society hosts such as Clear the Shelter, “As inflation and the high cost-of-living skyrockets, exacerbated with Hawaiʻi’s lack of affordable pet-friendly housing and poor access to affordable spay/neuter services, pet over-population is becoming a crisis, and more families are making the difficult decision to surrender their pets. That means shelters like the Hawaiian Humane Society and rescue organizations across our islands are over-capacity. This has been a persistent, ongoing crisis for the past two years unlike anything we’ve experienced, which is why we’re calling on the public’s help.”

She continues, “If you’re considering adding a pet to your family, consider adopting from your local shelter or rescue organization. Adoption events like Clear the Shelter help to provide incentives for shelter pets finding loving homes. It would be incredible to end this month by truly “clearing the shelters,” so that we have the capacity and resources to take in more vulnerable pets that need us.”

If you are unable to commit to adoption. The Humane Society also has wonderful opportunities to help animals in need such as:

• Becoming a Lap Crasher or Couch Crasher foster, which is our short-term foster program for adult dogs and cats
• Fostering, which is a slightly longer foster commitment for all shelter pets that need a home environment to recuperate, decompress, or gain weight, like Cutter and Skywise
• Volunteering
• Donating
• Exploring alternatives to surrender if you are forced to make the difficult decision to rehome your pet or taking advantage of Home to Home, our online tool to connect pets with families looking to adopt
• Raising awareness of the importance of spaying/neutering to help curb pet over-population

For more information visit: Hawaiian Humane Society.