Eleven abandoned puppies were flown to Oahu from the Valley Isle on Saturday to help an overflow of unwanted pets at the Maui Humane Society, a spokeswoman from the Oahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.
Stephanie Ryan, founder of the Oahu SPCA, said she hopes to find foster families for the dogs as soon as possible because the group’s shelter can’t afford to use money designated for animals from the Hawaiian Humane Society on Oahu.
"They were inundated with so many puppies the last few weeks that they reached out to us to help them," Ryan said. "If I don’t find foster families, they’ll be taking up shelter space that we’re trying to reserve for the Hawaiian Humane Society because they have the same problem."
Ryan said having foster families care for pets and bring them to Oahu SPCA events for adoption is important because the society doesn’t have to bear the cost. She said space is available at the shelter for more animals, but the organization lacks money to care for them.
The puppies, estimated to be between 2 to 3 months old, arrived on two separate Hawaiian Airlines flights, Ryan said. They are mostly from different litters, and all were either abandoned or turned over to the Maui Humane Society.
Five of the puppies are male and six are female, she said. The breeds are unknown.
Ryan said overcrowding on Maui isn’t unusual, and it happens year-round throughout the state.
"The problem is Hawaii does not have breeding season because of our good weather, and people don’t take the responsibility to sterilize their pets," she said. "The community has to take responsibility and chip in and sterilize all their pets to avoid these emergency situations."
People interested in volunteering to care for the puppies can get information at 754-1519 or www.oahuspca.com. An application for fostering and adopting animals can be found by clicking the "Foster Application" link on the left side of the web page.
