Fired worker claims
society wasn’t humane
to its animals

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

A former employee of the Hawaiian Humane Society contends she was wrongfully fired after she complained about the agency's euthanasia practices and threatened to go to the state Department of Labor.

Lynn L.M. Oakley, director of development from July 1 to Oct. 17, filed suit Thursday in Circuit Court against the agency, President and Chief Executive Officer Pamela Burns and Mary Tashiro, manager of the animal care department.

According to the complaint, Oakley said she witnessed the agency's "production line" killing of dogs in groups of five or six by one unqualified veterinarian technician -- methods contrary to the Humane Society's policies and procedures.

She also saw about 40 cats stored in cages within 15 inches from the heat of an operating furnace. When she reported the incidents to Burns, Burns denied that cats and dogs were being treated inhumanely and said Oakley could not have seen what she is alleging.

Tashiro also said it was impossible that the cats could have been placed near the furnace, but that dogs are routinely euthanized in groups by a single technician.