The Kauai Humane Society (KHS), located in Lihue, Hawaii, undertakes a multitude of initiatives aimed at fostering ethical treatment and well-being of animals. Not confined solely to advocacy, the society extends its reach through services and programs such as sheltering, adoption, educational endeavors, and advocating for policies conducive to animal welfare. Their field services involve rescuing animals in distress, conducting cruelty investigations, and enforcing animal-related laws, among other activities.
In a segment featured on Kaua‘i TV, Amanda Smith, engages with Nicole Schaefer Crane, the Executive Director of KHS, providing a lens into the day-to-day operations and several pivotal programs of the society. Schaefer Crane conveys, “We promote adoptions and transfers and foster programs, but beyond that, we also offer quite a few community services.” One such community service that has garnered attention is the Field Trip Program.
Elaborating on the Field Trip Program, Schaefer Crane explains, “You can call or go onto our website and arrange to have an animal for the day. So you’ll pick up between probably 10 and noon, and as long as you return them by five, you can have them for that whole time frame.” The program allows individuals to spend a day with a shelter dog, offering both canine and human a respite and a day of varied activities. Winchester, an eight-year-old dog available for adoption at the time of filming, is showcased during a hiking trip with Smith, illustrating a tangible depiction of the program in action.
In the realm of exploring safe locations for these field trips with the dogs, several options are presented: “There’s hiking in Sleeping Giant, there’s doing the bike pathway which goes all along the coast, which is absolutely beautiful. There’s Shipwrecks, which is really nice,” informs Schaefer Crane. Importantly, while engaging in these activities, the dogs wear a distinct vest, signaling to the public that they are available for adoption, as Schaefer Crane outlines: “…they have a great little vest that they wear that lets people know that they are available for adoption while they’re out roaming the island with you.”
The sustenance of such programs and the overall functioning of KHS is significantly tethered to community and external support. Various avenues for support and donation are available, one of which Schaefer Crane explicates as follows: “There’s lots of ways that you can give, and a big one that I really like is the sponsor kennel. So that dog that you just spent the whole day with, you can sponsor his kennel while it’s here until the point where he gets adopted, and we’ll send you updates to let you know how they’re doing and let you know about their happy ending when they find their forever home.”
This snapshot into the operational and engagement aspects of KHS, through the lens of a television segment, illuminates the society’s multifaceted approach towards animal welfare and community involvement. Integrating programs such as the Field Trip Program with avenues for tangible support, KHS situates itself as a pivotal entity in navigating the intersection of animal welfare, community engagement, and advocacy within its locale.