Eric Thompson, executive director of Animal Incident Management, recovers a kitten in the burn zone. Thompson was tasked with coordinating governmental and nongovernmental resources in the aftermath of the Maui wildfire. He organized ASAR teams composed of MHS humane enforcement officers, multiple agency responders, and credentialed ASAR responders from national agencies such as ASAR Training and Response.
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MHS estimates hundreds of cats still needing rescue. To gather them, responders have established feeding stations throughout the burn zone, which need to be maintained and managed daily.
Animal trapping teams work day and night, spending eight to 10 hours in the five-square-mile burn zone daily. Feeding teams require 800 pounds of cat food per week to service the 75-plus feeding stations in the burn zone. MHS is short on cat food and will need donations.
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MHS veterinary staff members (left to right) Dr. Kim Thomson-Kerr; Rachel Zawacki, veterinary assistant; and Juliana Dempsey, registered veterinary technician; care for a cat recovered from the burn zone. All trapped cats are first housed in the TNR Villa, then taken to the veterinary clinic, where veterinarians evaluate the cats, sedate them, and treat them for burns. Additionally, the cats are scanned for microchips, spayed or neutered if they haven’t been, vaccinated, dewormed, and receive flea control. Friendly cats are housed in MHS’s Cat Ohana for at least 30 days to allow time for owners to look for their missing pets. Feral cats, or those acting feral, are housed in acclimation cages optimized for safety and recovery. MHS contacted feline behaviorists at the University of California-Davis and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to ensure the cats receive proper support.
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Animals rarely make it out of the burn zone unscathed. “Most injuries were some level of burn injuries,” said Eric Thompson, executive director of Animal Incident Management. “All of the animals had some level of stress and dehydration.” Common medical conditions included singed ear tips and paw pad burns, which warrant daily wound care, burn cream, and removal of sloughed-off skin. A number of animals also were suffering from smoke inhalation.
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A cat is held on the operating table by Elena Hickey, a veterinary assistant at MHS, as Drs. Thomson-Kerr (left) and Laurie Gaines, MHS medical director, look on. The shelter is caring for about 300 cats since the wildfires occurred. Both veterinary clinics in Lahaina burned down, so MHS has been maintaining mobile clinics for pet owners on the west side of the island. There are not enough veterinary staff members to cover the responsibilities of daily wound care for all the animals. Veterinarians outside Hawaii are welcome to volunteer. So far, there have been more than 50 visiting veterinarians who work under the direct supervision of MHS veterinarians.
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A volunteer from the San Diego Humane Society Emergency Response Team pets an owned dog in a field. The MHS has received assistance not only from the San Diego Humane Society, but also the Arizona Humane Society, the Hawaiian Island Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society, Greater Good Charities, Veterinarians Without Borders, and countless local groups and other animal rescue organizations. “It’s overwhelming how much there is to do on top of our normal operations,” said Dr. Lisa Labrecque, CEO of MHS. “However, such outpouring of support from the Hawaiian community and abroad has helped us to get through these challenging times.”
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Three kittens in desperate need of care are brought to MHS. “Some of the cats that come in, we don’t even know what color they are because they’re covered in ash,” Dr. Labrecque said. Because of space limitations at MHS, animal trapping teams started by targeting cats that need medical attention, look thin or dehydrated, or have known owners as well as kittens and pregnant cats. MHS recently leased a commercial space nearby, the Acclimation Annex, which is housing about 100 recovered cats. MHS is in the process of securing a second location to house additional cata once the annex is full.
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MHS and Greater Good Charities animal trapping teams work to capture animals in the burn zone. Bryan Kortis of Neighborhood Cats, based in New York and Maui, runs the trapping operation for MHS. Joy Smith, executive director of FieldHaven Feline Center in Lincoln, California, runs the Acclimation Annex. She has extensive experience caring for displaced cats following the Camp Fire in 2018 in Paradise, California.
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By using effective trapping techniques learned in the aftermath of the California wildfires, MHS has a better chance of recovering cats and reuniting them with their families. Here, Shannon Jay, a retired National Park Service officer, uses thermal scopes to see cats late at night. Camera traps help match cats in specific locations with photos of owned animals from lost pet reports. Eventually, the trapped cats will be organized at the shelter on the basis of their fur color, so it is easier for families to identify them.
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The ASPCA National Field Response Team helps set up shelter for horses and livestock in the burn zone. In addition to cats and dogs, MHS and partners have helped to feed and hydrate a myriad of species impacted by the fire. That includes bringing a shipment of hay from the mainland along with drums of water for horses, sheep, pigs, and chickens.
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