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Quarantine facility LIHUE >> Karl Thompson threw a toy to Zula, his 8-year-old Dalmatian, again and again and again in an exercise pen at the Kauai Humane Society.
opens on Garden Isle
Kauai's Humane Society was
certified on Valentine's DayBy Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.comThompson and Zula play together every day and will until the dog is out of quarantine next month.
Zula was one of the first dogs admitted to the Humane Society when it became a certified quarantine station on, fittingly, Valentine's Day.
"She spent a week on Oahu before the Kauai facility was certified," said Thompson, who recently retired and moved with his family from Ohio to Kauai.
Zula qualified for the 30-day quarantine.
In the adjoining exercise yard, David and Angela Ledee were playing with their dog, Pena, who will spend 120 days in quarantine. Like Zula, Pena spent the first part of her quarantine on Oahu.
"We didn't get to see her for a couple of months," Angela Ledee said. "Now we see her every day."
The Ledees are both Kauai natives who are returning home after living in San Diego.
Kauai is the second neighbor island to have a certified quarantine facility. The private Bar-King Dog Kennel operates on the Big Island.
The cost for the Kauai program is comparable to fees at the station on Oahu: about $1,700 for 120 days and $800 for 30 days.
The program is one of the first ventures of veterinarian Becky Rhoades, who took over as director of the Kauai Humane Society's new facility last year. Rhoades said the first day of the program was heartwarming.
"Families seemed thrilled to have their pets on the island, and several spent the morning out lounging with their dogs in the exercise yards, catching some sunshine," she said.
About 75 percent of the dogs and cats qualify for the 30-day program. Most of those that do not qualify belong to people who moved to Hawaii on short notice and could not start the program 90 days ahead of their move as required.
A few animals do not qualify for the 30-day quarantine because they have had illnesses that have affected their immunity systems, she added.
Rhoades, who has spent most of her career managing animal shelters, hopes the quarantine program will be abolished or reduced to a minimal period within the next couple of years.