HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0301.021 2020-2022 From: teri murphy
Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2021 2:32 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Fwd: RFAS animal sanctuary (copy of my email to the county)
COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAII
RECEIVED
Time 9.:b2 /►I. By
Sent from my iPhone Date JUL 0 3. 2021
Begin forwarded message:
From: Jordan Fisher
Date: July 1, 2021 at 11:01:23 HST
To:
Subject: Fwd: RFAS animal sanctuary (copy of my email to the county)
Forwarded message
From: Jordan Fisher
Date: Thu, Jul 1, 2021 at 10:59 AM
Subject: RFAS animal sanctuary
To: <hpdanimalcontrol@hawaiicounty.gov>
Aloha,
I am a neighbor, and former employee of Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary. I know this is a chaotic
time, but I felt I should report that other neighbors personally witnesses many, many dogs being
brought to RFAS en mass yesterday, the last day of Rainbow Rangers' contract. It seems clear that
they were transferring as many animals at the Kipimana facility as possible to RFAS in an attempt to
keep control over the animals RR brought in during their contract in some capacity.
This is just my personal opinion, but after working with and living near RFAS for several years, I
believe Mary Rose (president and founder of RFAS) has some hoarding tendencies that manifest in the
form of"animal rescue," and much like traditional hoarders, when they feel they are losing control,
they become combative and things get ugly. It certainly seems like that's what is happening right
now.
As you may be aware, conditions for the animals at RFAS have been very marginal for a long time. It
was bad before Rainbow Rangers, it got worse when they took on the contract, and I have a terrible
feeling that things are about to hit rock bottom with all the animals that were brought in at the last
minute. The sanctuary was recently out of water for 2 weeks, and they refused to allow me to cart in
water for them because they don't like that I've made my opinion clear about the dysfunction at the
sanctuary. As a neighbor, it's really easy for me to help them with that- I have county water. I've
done it in the past- but current leadership prioritizes personal nonsense over the health and safety of the
animals, which is awful. That is not rescue. hh
Comm. No. PI
Ref. To: PIPP PGCE
1 Ref. Date JUL - 6 2021
I know that anima control services are currently in operational limbo, but I implore someone from the
county to please visit RFAS and check on the condition of the animals. Some of the the worst
hoarding happens in some of the less traveled areas of the 7 acre property, and leadership at the
sanctuary has a history of not showing the full truth when scrutinized. Additionally, I am no lawyer,
but are the animals that were brought in under the county animal control contract not property of the
county? Would the mass transfer to a private facility not be a form of theft?
Mahalo for your time. Fingers crossed for forward progress. I am also very willing to lend a hand if
there is anything I could do to support the current effort to clean up this mess, so please don't hesitate
to reach out if you feel I could be useful!
Jordan Fisher
2