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Group accuses
Humane Society
of cruelty

Animal Care says the society
uses 'brutal methods' in euthanizing
stray dogs and cats

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By Pat Gee
Star-Bulletin

A group that pushes for alternatives to euthanizing stray animals is accusing the Hawaiian Humane Society of using "brutal" methods of killing dogs and cats that amount to "criminal cruelty."

But society spokeswoman Eve Holt said these charges are "just not true."

At a press conference this morning, Animal Care Foundation vice president Frank De Giacomo said former humane society employees told his group that dogs to be euthanized are not always sedated and are stabbed with a long needle aimed for the heart that sometimes misses the mark.

"This is equivalent to a human being being stabbed in the chest with an ice pick," De Giacomo said.

He said cats are stored in metal cages stacked 16 inches away from an incinerator and are held in cages for 12-hour stretches with no food or water.

But Holt said "the most humane method" of euthanasia is used on all animals at the society, and every animal is sedated and treated individually.

Pamela Burns, president of the society, said last year the shelter received 10,725 dogs, of which 53 percent were euthanized. It received 18,074 cats -- 9,000 of which were "unsocialized feral cats not appropriate for adoption" -- of which 92 percent were euthanized.

The society has been "aggressive" as well as "progressive" in its free or low-cost spay/neuter and microchip identification programs, Burns said.

De Giacomo said Animal Care policy "precludes the killing of any animal not suffering."

His group believes there should be a mandatory spay and neuter law and that the society should increase volunteer programs, create a larger holding area, and create a better system of adoption and foster home placement.

He said the feral cat population "should be managed (with neutering)," and the animals should be "returned to their colonies ... not brought here (to the society)."

"There is a national no-kill movement. It's time it comes to Hawaii," he said.