COM 0054.014 2000-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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February 20, 2001 Mayor Harry Kim and staff, Counal Members, 25 Aupuni St Hilo, Hawan 96720 Dear Mayor Kim and staff, Counal Members and Mr Hashida, I'm Dr Pamela Warner I am a recently retired Psychologist and state college educator/counselor from the Minneapolis area of Minnesota where I still live My husband and I love the beautiful Hawanan islands and have traveled here many times After many years of planning, we wtll finally be mowng permanently to one of the islands this fall Last year I spent 6 weeks on Maw where I volunteered regularly at the animal shelter The expenence was wonderful The animals at the Maui shelter and their Irving spaces were kept very clean Staff and volunteers held, groomed, and played and exerased animals often The atmosphere was upbeat and positive The animals responded For the most part, they seemed contented and settled I was hooked Consistent with the spirit of Aloha, I thought, Hawanans love then animals The effect of the Maw expenence was so powerful that when I returned to Minneapolis, I conitnued volunteer work at amoral shelters in the Mnneapolis area I found no facility operated as well or better than the Maui faality Returning to the island of Hawan this winter I looked forward to volunteenng at a local shelter here and expected, naively, the same wonderful experience as last year Here is a beef narrative of my expenence with the Waimea Animal Shelter February 6, Tuesday I dropped in at the shelter unannounced during regular public hours to offer myself as a volunteer I stared in amazement at the cat cages with litter boxes almost solid with unne and feces and completely dry water bowls The animals were meowing loudly and extending paws through their cages There seemed to be only one attendant at the shelter I offered to help She gave me a beef volunteer onentation and I went to work for about 2 hours, cleaning all the cat sages and replenishing water The cats drank and drank from their water bowls and defecated immediately in their clean litter boxes Some of the cats had matted eyes All had bloated tummies There seemed to be no vet at the site and no regular vet care One cat had diarrhea which the attendant thought might be stress related There were very few toys and no seeming exerase regimen The attendant told me they were kept in these cages until adopted There seemed to be no exerase area for cats in the faality Several cat litter boxes were chewed down around the edges The attendant received several phone calls whtle I was there and one emergency call which regwred her to close the shelter early and respond to the emergency I went home distressed and confused Hawan and the Hawanan people are kind and generous How could the shelter be so different here than on Maws February 7, Wednesday I dropped in at the shelter unannounced around 2PM dunng posted public access hours There was no one there All spaces in the drop off kennels were taken The dogs had tittle or no water and food I scavenged rusty cans from the shelter grounds and filled them with my bottled water and slipped it under the doors of then cages The dogs drank and drank and drank Cats in the unventilated drop off units were without water One had a serous infury with paralyzed back legs and was clearly in distress Dogs in the kennels I observed through the fence had no water and, in some cases no food They appeared agitated, licking their empty water bowls when they observed me watering the dogs outside One dog had a large gash on his shoulder and another behind his ear which looked raw and untreated