Maui Humane Society’s Molokai kennels are over their capacity and the organization is asking for the public’s help so it won’t have to euthanize animals because it doesn’t have room for them. Photo courtesy Maui Humane Society

The numbers facing the Maui Humane Society are daunting.

According to the organization, 26 dogs are currently being housed at the nonprofit’s Molokai kennels, which is far beyond capacity.

As a result of the overcrowding, the Humane Society is deploying staff to support Molokai and planning to move the dogs to its shelter in Puunene, but there’s not much room there either.

According to the Maui Humane Society, it is currently caring for 65 dogs at the shelter with 57 more in foster homes, and if care levels continue to exceed capacity, the nonprofit dedicated to saving animals’ lives could have to euthanize some of them for space.

Maui Humane Society is the island’s only open-admission shelter, and since February the Humane Society has taken in 98 dogs and answered 151 calls for service on Molokai, which has just two full-time staff and limited veterinary resources.

As a result, Maui Humane Society relies on transferring unclaimed stray dogs to Maui in order to provide the care required under its Maui County Animal Services contract.

“We’re committed to adapting to the unique needs of pets on Molokai, but we cannot do it alone,” said Tanya Hosoda, Maui Humane Society’s director of field services. “We’re six months into our contract and our kennels on Maui are already full. We cannot continue to support Molokai without community help.”

Currently, the organization’s supporters fund roughly 30% of its operations on Molokai, while the Maui County contracts fund the rest.

The Maui Humane Society says the cost of providing basic, humane care exceeds what the county contract covers, and supplemental funding from donors is not sustainable at this level.

The organization says solutions are in progress as they look toward expanding the Maui Humane Society’s abilities on Molokai within the limitations of the Maui County contracts.

To help, the Humane Society is encouraging people to donate funds to help cover care for the Molokai dogs’ transportation to Maui, ongoing veterinary care and more.

People can also adopt or foster dogs from Maui Humane Society or apply for the nonprofit’s open animal care enrichment/pet resource specialist position on Molokai. For more, go to mauihumanesociety.org/careers.