In response to the high volume of animal emergency calls, the Maui Humane Society revived its 24-hour, seven-day-a-week animal emergency response hotline on Monday to assist domestic animals and livestock.
While most island animal clinics accept emergency patients, on-site response services have been limited since the Humane Society suspended its after-hour services due to funding cuts around 2010.
“We continuously receive messages from residents about animal emergencies after hours, so implementing the 24-hour animal response service is critical,” said Jerleen Bryant, Maui Humane Society’s chief executive officer. “It will allow us to respond and assist the public and animals in a timely manner around the clock.”
The society’s hotline is available to residents witnessing aggressive, trapped, injured or loose animals, with or without collars. Residents also can use the line to report neglected or abused animals. Signs of a neglected or abused animal include a lack of food, water or shelter; matted or missing fur; ribs and bones showing; open sores; or a living space filled with feces, according to a Humane Society news release.
Since 2011, Valley Isle Animal Rescue has been handling most of the island’s emergency calls, said Dennis Burns, who runs the operation in Makawao with his wife, Suzanne Burry. Burns said he and his wife offered the service hoping the Humane Society would eventually step in again.
“It’s just me and my wife,” Burns said. “It spreads us pretty thin. The biggest struggle was financial. Every time we wake a veterinarian up, it costs $200 to $350.”
Burns said the nonprofit responds to 100 to 125 calls a year, many from police. He added that Maui Pitbull Rescue also assists Valley Isle.
Meanwhile, in fiscal year 2015, the Maui Humane Society “responded to an average of 294 calls from the public each month, 41 of which were calls from residents reporting animals that required emergency care or were aggressive, incapacitated or needed to be seized during our open hours,” Bryant said.
Humane Society enforcement officers responding to calls are trained and certified to determine whether humane laws have been violated and are able to administer drugs. Bryant said that there are seven officers and one dispatcher on a 44-member staff.
Since the organization needs to move one officer to a night shift to oversee the new hotline, responses to calls during the day might take a little longer. Bryant said that she hoped the Maui Humane Society, which receives county funds, can obtain more funding for more staff.
After picking up an animal, enforcement officers search for any form of identification, including microchips. Staff members review owners’ lost animal reports, post stray reports on Facebook, broadcast reports on KAOI at 8:30 every morning, and sometimes check Craigslist. The society reunites about 800 animals with their families each year, Bryant said.
In fiscal year 2015, the society took in about 8,000 animals, including dogs, cats, bunnies, turtles and guinea pigs. In the same year, the organization sent 470 dogs to rescue groups or shelters elsewhere in the state and on the Mainland.
Dogs with a current license are held for nine days before being put up for adoption or transferred, those with “signs of ownership,” such as a tag-less collar, are held at the shelter for five days, and those without signs of ownership are held for two days. Cats with signs of ownership are held for five days before becoming eligible for adoption.
“Our number one priority is getting animals into homes,” Bryant said.
Residents can call the Humane Society hotline at 877-3680, ext. 211. The hotline is not for reporting stray chickens, pigs, deer or birds, unless residents believe their safety is at risk. For more information on Humane Society services, visit mauihumane.org.
While Burns and Burry, a former animal control officer, have some veterinary knowledge, they usually take rescued animals to a local clinic so the animals can receive medicine or shots. Burns said the pair will keep most types of rescued domestic animals for 30 days before putting them up for adoption or transferring them to local shelters. He said that even with the society’s hotline, Valley Isle will respond if called upon.
“We will always be here to help the Humane Society when it’s busy,” Burns said. “If anybody calls us, we’re still going to go out. We won’t turn an emergency down.”
Valley Isle reunites around 70 percent of the animals it rescues with owners, Burns estimated. Now that the Humane Society has launched its hotline, Burns can contact a night officer to look up pet microchip information, which Valley Isle doesn’t have access to, “and reunite animals the same night instead of waiting till the next morning,” Burns said.
Residents can reach Burns at 463-4194 or Burry at 463-4108. For more information on Valley Isle Animal Rescue, visit valleyisleanimalrescue.org.
* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
