Shelter Shout Out: Kauai Humane Society

We work with thousands of animal welfare groups whose work is absolutely invaluable for shelter pets. We like to highlight this great work through our monthly Shelter Shout Out series. This month, we’re here to talk about the Kauai Humane Society in Lihue, HI. A big thanks to Tanya for taking the time to chat with us about the shelter and the work they’re doing!

Kauai Humane Society (KHS) is a non-profit, open-admission shelter that has been caring for animals in need since 1952. While the primary focus has been the animals within the shelter, KHS has put a lot of time and effort into a variety of programs to serve island residents – people and pets alike!

Some of the programs that KHS run include public low-cost (sometimes free) spay and neuter services, regular monthly low-cost vaccine and microchip clinics, pet food bank, emergency boarding due to housing emergencies or domestic violence and so much more. It’s incredible to see the reach that KHS has made and the impact in the island’s community that they’ve made.

We have been working with KHS through our ShelterBeds program for over 10 years. Back in 2021, the Humane Society ran a Kuranda Bed campaign that absolutely surpassed all expectations!
Thanks to their supporters, they received over 100 beds within one month! Fast forward to 2024 and KHS, like many animal welfare organizations, are overcapacity and in need to Kuranda Beds. To no surprise, the community (and folks from all over the country!) stepped up for the animals once again. Another 100 beds were donated to the shelter, bringing comfort to animals in need.

Kuranda: Tell us a bit about the Kauai Humane Society, the work you all do, what programs you offer etc. Is there anything unique about KHS that you’d like to share?

Kauai Humane Society (KHS): The Kauai Humane Society has been the only resource for the island's homeless pets for over 70 years and while most of our focus has been on the animals in our shelter, we have also started to shift to finding ways to keep animals out of the shelter in the first place.
KHS runs a variety of programs to serve both two and four-legged island residents, including public low-cost (or even free) spay and neuter, monthly low-cost vaccination and microchip clinics, Gomez’s Galley Pet Food Bank, emergency boarding for pets due to domestic violence or housing emergencies, and more.
We have also recently opened a Community Care Center once a week to provide additional low-cost vet services to owned pets in addition to our offerings of low-cost spay/neuter and vaccine clinics.

Kuranda: What brought about your need for more Kuranda beds and why did you start a new campaign?

KHS: The Kauai Humane Society ran a Kuranda bed campaign in December of 2021 after years of never having enough beds. We had relied on donations from local families and the few Kuranda beds we had been given over the years.
We were amazed at the donor response and our dogs and cats were so happy! Then over the last six months or so, due to our extreme overcapacity issues, our Kuranda beds were getting much more use than they could handle. So we decided to run another campaign, and once again our community stepped up!
We have been truly honored that people from all over the country heard our request and donated to help our small island shelter.

Kuranda: What steps did you take to start your campaign? Did you have any resources you reference or team members with this type of in-kind donation asks?

KHS: Since we had run a similar campaign a few years ago, we were able to easily access the resources and campaign pages to set up a new campaign.

Kuranda: What were some key focuses to engage potential donors and to encourage donations?

KHS: Because some of our dog beds were in disrepair we were able to take photos of a dog with them in a kennel to use as an example of our need. We also were able to photograph a dog on a new bed, like a before/after, to show how it can make such a drastic improvement to the pets living situation while they are in our care.
Once those photos were ready we posted on social media and sent out an email request to our supporters expressing our need for new beds for the thousands of animals that come through our shelter each year. Because KHS is very remote and difficult to ship to, we were (thankfully) able to partner with a local business that has items shipped on a barge to the island.
They allowed us to use their mainland warehouse in Ontario, CA. to store the Kuranda beds until the barge was ready to sail. Without this shipping partner, we do not think the campaign would have been as successful as the shipping of the beds can be cost prohibitive to donors.

Kuranda: How did you campaign for beds? Social media, email newsletter, physical flyers etc.? Which platform did you find to be most successful?

KHS: We used our social media and email platforms to share our campaign. While it is hard to say which was most successful, we did notice that many donors were new to our organization which would make us think that the campaign was shared from social media.

Kuranda: What would you say was the most successful part of this campaign?

KHS: The most successful part of the campaign is when we will be able to assemble and hand out the new beds. Because of our shipping issues, we did not receive the beds for almost 8 weeks after our campaign started (Oct.). We are hoping to get all of the beds into kennels by the end of the year!

Kuranda: Is there anything you’d try differently or anything you learned that may help in your next campaign? (This can be for Kuranda beds, food, or anything else you’re encouraging donations for)

KHS: We believe that project based giving or targeting giving has been the most successful for us over the last few years. Giving people a specific way to help with a tangible goal seems to encourage more donations because it empowers donors to help meet a goal.

Kuranda: Any other info you’d like to share or advice to other shelters wanting to start a Kuranda ShelterBeds campaign? Tips and tricks for groups to successfully reach their supporters/donor base?

KHS: We love this program!!

Kuranda: Anything else you’d like to share? Kuranda or otherwise!

KHS: You guys are the best and this program is so easy, thank you so much for helping KHS help our animals!

Like the Kauai Humane Society on Facebook, on Instagram and check out their website.

Donate Kuranda Beds directly to shelter through the Kauai Humane Society's ShelterBeds Wish List!