Land, animals, people, community- this is aloha aina.

Aloha aina is central to our culture and the health of our community. Aina includes animals; we demonstrate aloha aina by respecting and advocating for all aspects of our home, aina, people, and animals. Change is happening and we want you to be part of something historic happening now in Hawaii County. Your voice should lead the way in ending the killing of animals in Hawaii shelters and showing the depth and beauty of our culture, people, and home.

Over the past several months we have seen positive change for people and pets here on the Big Island. Our local shelters have focused on putting the community, its people, and pets first, and we see this with the recent programs focusing on keeping pets with their families. A deliberate effort to make microchips more accessible, microchip more pets, and focus on ways to reunite lost pets with their owners without ever having to enter the shelter has led to a big increase in pets reuniting with their families. Reuniting lost pets has been done both by field service officers directly and through a community effort of neighbors utilizing new databases to find the lost pet’s owner directly.

A second effort, has included providing and encouraging more spay/neuter of cats on the Island with the goal of fewer free-roaming cats, more cats leaving the shelter alive, and more resources for pet owners to keep their cats happy and healthy.

After over a decade of work, Hawaii Island is implementing these changes.

We need our Big Island ohana to own this and be a part of our present and future to better our animal's and people's lives.