"Everyone has heard about the deadly fires that swept through the historic town of Lahaina, Maui recently. Everyone has heard about people who didn’t make it through the fires. Something that doesn't make the headlines is what happened to all the animals." -- Zara Quiter, seventh grade
Everyone has heard about the deadly fires that swept through the historic town of Lahaina, Maui recently. Everyone has heard about people who didn’t make it through the fires. Something that doesn't make the headlines is what happened to all the animals.
Many Lahaina residents were unable to rescue their pets while fleeing the fire, and while they are displaced, their pets are scattered. Some pets have sadly perished, others are surviving in the burnt town, and some have been found and rescued by the Maui Humane Society.
The Maui Humane Society has received over 1,000 missing pet reports, and that is probably only a third of the animals that are missing. It may seem hopeless, but animals are sometimes much better equipped to survive natural disasters than humans. They are faster, smaller, and their natural instincts can kick in to find food and water.
At 3:30 PM on Saturday, August 26, Maui County allowed the Maui Humane Society and volunteers to access the burn zone to search for animals who might have survived the fire, but under strict rules. They are trying to lure them out with food and water. Unfortunately, most pets haven’t come out - if they are even in the burn zone. Animals could be deceased, or they could have outrun the fire and be outside of Lahaina.
According to The Humane Society, “We’re providing urgent and critical supplies to the Maui Humane Society and are in conversation with local organizations to assess how else we can help.”
Since the disaster, animals that were living in the Maui Humane Society before the fire have been flown to the Bay Area so that space could open up for animals that were injured from the fire or have lost their homes.
“Two days after the Lahaina fire we were contacted by relief workers who were supporting the Maui Humane Society and asked if we were willing to coordinate a flight of animals to the Bay Area,” said Berkeley Humane’s Executive Director Jeffrey Zerwekh. “We immediately agreed, but because all of the Bay Area shelters are full of animals, we put together a group of six partner shelters to make sure we had the capacity to care for the pets from Hawaii.”
Berkeley Humane has 12 of the 44 animals that came from Lahaina to the East Bay. In addition, Berkeley Humane has partnered with five other organizations to help find homes for the pets; Marin Humane, Animal Rescue Foundation, East Bay SPCA, Fremont Animal Services (Tri-City Animal Shelter) and Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS). Greater Good Charities have organized flights with Ameriflight to transport over 130 dogs and cats to organizations like Berkeley Humane over the country.
“We took in six dogs and one puppy. Some have been adopted, some are available for adoption and some are in foster,” said Sandra Mallalieu, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the East Bay SPCA. “We are glad we could partner with other shelters to help Maui Humane through this difficult time. The adoption fees for all of the Maui Humane dogs and puppies we took in will be donated to Maui Humane.”
“When we first learned of the fires, our immediate thoughts turned to the people and to the animals who would be displaced and separated from their owners,” said Sean McGinnis, Director of Rescue, Care, and Adoptions at the Animal Rescue Foundation. “Based on our experience supporting other rescue missions in the past, we knew it would be critical that the already adoptable dogs and cats in the Maui shelter would need to be transferred off the island to make space for the lost pets so they could get veterinary care and hopefully be reunited with their families.”
Michelle Oga-Yates, Marketing and Communications/ Administrative Coordinator at Marin Humane said, “We received eight dogs and two puppies via the airlift from Maui Humane Society to the Bay Area. Most have already been adopted.” She said, “We were grateful to be able to help in any way we could and that turned out to be taking in animals awaiting adoption in Maui.”
Eighth grade student Mila Boyden who has read many articles on the fires said, “I feel like I just assumed [that because] there were so many people in the fires, there would be animals in the fires too.”
She continued, “[Knowing about all the animals in the fire] did make me realize how much the fires had affected Maui, and the animals, trees, forest, and landforms.”
In Maui, many animals from Lahaina are waiting to be adopted. If your family is looking for a companion, adopt an animal from Maui! Most Bay Area animals have been adopted, but there are still over 100 cats ready to be adopted at the Maui Humane Society, a couple other animals (turtles, rabbits, guinea pics, and chickens), and around 10 dogs. Give those animals a good life after the traumatic events they’ve had to live through.
“Tigger and Skyler, still at ARF, are waiting loving families to adopt them. All of the other dogs and cats have found homes. Come and meet these dogs!” McGinnis said.
These are two of the animals on the Maui Humane website up for adoption, rescued from Lahaina. Check out who’s up for adoption!
Many Lahaina residents were unable to rescue their pets while fleeing the fire, and while they are displaced, their pets are scattered. Some pets have sadly perished, others are surviving in the burnt town, and some have been found and rescued by the Maui Humane Society.
The Maui Humane Society has received over 1,000 missing pet reports, and that is probably only a third of the animals that are missing. It may seem hopeless, but animals are sometimes much better equipped to survive natural disasters than humans. They are faster, smaller, and their natural instincts can kick in to find food and water.
At 3:30 PM on Saturday, August 26, Maui County allowed the Maui Humane Society and volunteers to access the burn zone to search for animals who might have survived the fire, but under strict rules. They are trying to lure them out with food and water. Unfortunately, most pets haven’t come out - if they are even in the burn zone. Animals could be deceased, or they could have outrun the fire and be outside of Lahaina.
According to The Humane Society, “We’re providing urgent and critical supplies to the Maui Humane Society and are in conversation with local organizations to assess how else we can help.”
Since the disaster, animals that were living in the Maui Humane Society before the fire have been flown to the Bay Area so that space could open up for animals that were injured from the fire or have lost their homes.
“Two days after the Lahaina fire we were contacted by relief workers who were supporting the Maui Humane Society and asked if we were willing to coordinate a flight of animals to the Bay Area,” said Berkeley Humane’s Executive Director Jeffrey Zerwekh. “We immediately agreed, but because all of the Bay Area shelters are full of animals, we put together a group of six partner shelters to make sure we had the capacity to care for the pets from Hawaii.”
Berkeley Humane has 12 of the 44 animals that came from Lahaina to the East Bay. In addition, Berkeley Humane has partnered with five other organizations to help find homes for the pets; Marin Humane, Animal Rescue Foundation, East Bay SPCA, Fremont Animal Services (Tri-City Animal Shelter) and Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS). Greater Good Charities have organized flights with Ameriflight to transport over 130 dogs and cats to organizations like Berkeley Humane over the country.
“We took in six dogs and one puppy. Some have been adopted, some are available for adoption and some are in foster,” said Sandra Mallalieu, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the East Bay SPCA. “We are glad we could partner with other shelters to help Maui Humane through this difficult time. The adoption fees for all of the Maui Humane dogs and puppies we took in will be donated to Maui Humane.”
“When we first learned of the fires, our immediate thoughts turned to the people and to the animals who would be displaced and separated from their owners,” said Sean McGinnis, Director of Rescue, Care, and Adoptions at the Animal Rescue Foundation. “Based on our experience supporting other rescue missions in the past, we knew it would be critical that the already adoptable dogs and cats in the Maui shelter would need to be transferred off the island to make space for the lost pets so they could get veterinary care and hopefully be reunited with their families.”
Michelle Oga-Yates, Marketing and Communications/ Administrative Coordinator at Marin Humane said, “We received eight dogs and two puppies via the airlift from Maui Humane Society to the Bay Area. Most have already been adopted.” She said, “We were grateful to be able to help in any way we could and that turned out to be taking in animals awaiting adoption in Maui.”
Eighth grade student Mila Boyden who has read many articles on the fires said, “I feel like I just assumed [that because] there were so many people in the fires, there would be animals in the fires too.”
She continued, “[Knowing about all the animals in the fire] did make me realize how much the fires had affected Maui, and the animals, trees, forest, and landforms.”
In Maui, many animals from Lahaina are waiting to be adopted. If your family is looking for a companion, adopt an animal from Maui! Most Bay Area animals have been adopted, but there are still over 100 cats ready to be adopted at the Maui Humane Society, a couple other animals (turtles, rabbits, guinea pics, and chickens), and around 10 dogs. Give those animals a good life after the traumatic events they’ve had to live through.
“Tigger and Skyler, still at ARF, are waiting loving families to adopt them. All of the other dogs and cats have found homes. Come and meet these dogs!” McGinnis said.
These are two of the animals on the Maui Humane website up for adoption, rescued from Lahaina. Check out who’s up for adoption!