Check out our Alternatives to Pet Surrender and Surrendering a Pet pages.

The Hawaiian Humane Society’s Pet Food Bank program provides temporary assistance to pet owners struggling to feed their animals and runs solely via generous donations from the community, pet stores and the Hawaii Food Bank. At this time we are not in a position to supply food to caregivers in addition to pet owners. However, the program minimizes pet abandonment and prevents pet cats from becoming part of the Free-Roaming cat population.

Adult cats are only admitted into the shelter if they are socialized enough to be adopted into a new home. Healthy unsocialized adult cats are not accepted into the shelter because they cannot be placed in homes and euthanizing healthy animals is against our mission. Unauthorized relocation of cats is illegal in the state of Hawaiʻi but if you think it may be a lost pet, please bring it to the Admissions Center at our Mōʻiliʻili campus. Please bring dogs in on a leash and cats or other small animals in a secure carrier. If it is not a pet, we support Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage (TNRM) and suggest bringing the cat(s) to a Community Spay/Neuter Center to be sterilized free of charge, and return it to your property afterward. If the cats are a nuisance there are a number of deterrents you can try.

The Hawaiian Humane Society does not have trapping services available but we do have a Community Spay/Neuter Center that offers sterilizations free of charge. We also have traps available for rent and can offer guidance. Hawaiian Humane Society traps are not used for trapping and removing unwanted cats.

It can be tempting to take small kittens when you find them but usually, mom is not far away. It is important to leave them be unless they are in immediate danger. They still need their mom for survival and mom will likely return soon. You can check in every few hours to make sure.

If they are in danger or you are sure that mom isn’t returning and they are over 8 weeks old, you can bring them into our Admissions Center. If they are under 8 weeks, they will need to be fostered before they can be spayed/neutered and made available for adoption. If you are up for the task, we can supply you with a kitten kit and everything you need to know about caring for the young kittens. For more information on fostering kittens visit our Foster Volunteer page. For more information on what to do if you find kittens, visit our Kittens Resource page.

We acknowledge that managing Free Roaming cats on Oʻahu is a complex challenge which is why we support a targeted, long-term TNRM program consistent with our mission. TNRM is effective and has proven benefits when done right.