PUHI – It’s no secret that Kaua’i is home to many endemic and endangered birds.
There are many dangers to these birds besides pets, but keeping cats indoors is an easy way to help protect native ecosystems.
Not only do pet cats help protect local wildlife, but they also ensure pet cats live longer because they eliminate the risk of being hit by cars, getting lost, being attacked by dogs or humans, catching disease, or being injured to be caught.
In an effort to cultivate the importance of felines, the Kaua’i Humane Society has partnered with the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture to offer a variety of incentives and educational opportunities to the community.
The Society’s executive director, Nicole Schafer Crane, said hers is an advocacy and enforcement agency. It’s important to care for the island’s cats and dogs, but also for Kaua’i wildlife.
“The Kaua’i Humane Society is focused on dogs and cats, but we share the land and environment with many animals, from yellow-faced bees to laysan albatrosses to green sea turtles,” Crane said. “It is important to the Kaua’i Humane Society to find ways to help protect our island of Kaua’i and all the animals that live on it, and these partnerships help us achieve that goal.”
As part of this educational campaign, the Society and the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture offered two joint educational workshops in 2022, one virtual and one at the Puhi Animal Shelter. All of the information from these workshops, including how to keep indoor cats healthy, happy, and enriched, can be found at https://kauaihumane.org/cats-belong-indoors/.
In addition, the society encourages every adopter and current cat owner to sign the Pono Cat Parent Pledge for the Advancement of Indoor Cats, created by a working group with members from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Hawaiian Humane Society, the Kaua’i Humane Society, and the Pacific Birds Habiat joint venture was created and several other agencies.
Everyone who contributes between now and the end of February will be entered into a drawing at the end of February. The price includes an indoor enrichment package with a vertical cat scratcher, a cozy cat bed, an organic cat nip and a crackle playmat.
Cat owners can sign the pledge at the shelter or at https://kauaihumane.org/cats-belong-indoors/.
Pacific Birds Hawai’i Habitat Joint Venture Conservation Coordinator Helen Raine said Kaua’i is home to some of the world’s rarest seabirds and waterbirds, some of which live right next to urban areas.
Raine said because these birds evolved on our isolated islands without mammalian predators, they never had to evolve anti-predator strategies. She said this means they are literally sitting ducks when it comes to devastation from cats and other predators.
“Cats aren’t the only pressure these birds face (vehicle impact, power line collision, disease and habitat loss play a role), but at least we can do something about it more easily by keeping cats indoors,” Raine said.
“We have five threatened and endangered waterbirds on Kaua’i. Both the ‘alae’ula (Hawaiian gallinule) and koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck) populations are estimated to number fewer than 1,000 individuals worldwide, most of them in Kaua’i,” Raine said.
“The ‘alae ke’oke’o (Hawaiian coot) and ae’o (Hawaiian stilt) have about 2,000 specimens statewide. And there are just over 3,000 nene (Hawaiian goose).”
The partnership work included hiring a local muralist, Trysen Kaneshige, to create eye-catching art around the shelter. The Petco store at the Hokulei Village mall in Puhi is also participating and will soon be putting up signs saying “KHS Approved Indoor Enrichment” in the store with products recommended by the Society for Indoor Cats.
Crane said creating an indoor environment for cats, as well as spaying and neutering them, are the best ways cat owners can do their part to protect wildlife.
“Pets that are not spayed or neutered are more likely to roam, which not only puts pets at risk (eg, being hit by a vehicle or fighting with other animals), but can also bring pets and wildlife close together, which has the potential increases wildlife injury or death,” Crane said.
“Through spaying and neutering, we can also reduce unwanted litters that can become free-roaming dogs and cats. These free-roaming dogs and cats also have the potential to injure wildlife such as native birds.”