There is no simple solution to Maui’s feline overpopulation problem.This is in response to your Aug. 7–13 story on 9th Life Hawai‘i entitled “Nonprofit Organization Offers a Simple Solution to Maui’s Cat Overpopulation.”
As a volunteer with the Feline Foundation of Maui and a board member for the Maui Humane Society, I can tell you there is no simple solution to Maui’s cat overpopulation. I applaud 9th Life Hawai‘i’s vision to make Maui a “no-kill” community for cats. But the reality is that they simply don’t have the facilities or the services to spay, neuter or shelter every homeless cat on this island. Many have been turned away, and the Maui Humane Society is left to deal with those thousands of “others.”
Although 9th Life has relied on the Maui Humane Society over the years to provide spay/neuter surgeries and other services for its cats, its executive director has recently taken every opportunity to publicly denounce MHS for euthanizing cats—cats that her shelter has no room for.
The story stated that since 9th Life began in 1998, they have “led the way” by sterilizing over 900 cats on our island. Nine-hundred cats? In ten years? Over 2,300 cats were sterilized last year alone through the Maui Humane Society’s in-house, low-cost and free spay/neuter programs. 9th Life is doing an admirable job, but the cat crisis on Maui is bigger than any one organization can handle, and we must all work together as partners if we are going to accomplish the common goal.
The Maui Humane Society has partnered with the Feline Foundation of Maui to specifically address the feral cat population across our island. The Feline Foundation has one mission—to humanely curb the cat population on Maui through the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method. Volunteers all across the island have adopted “colonies” of feral cats, humanely trapping them, sterilizing them, then returning them to their original location where food and water is maintained. This approach has proven successful in communities around the world. But it takes time, and it takes volunteers.
If you want to help Maui’s cats, support the efforts of 9th Life Hawai‘i, if you wish. They have a commendable mission. But also support the Maui Humane Society and the Feline Foundation of Maui. Even better, volunteer to help by adopting a cat colony, or offering to foster young feral kittens—socializing them so they can be adopted into loving homes. For more information, visit www.mauihumanesociety.org or www.mauicats.com.