Emergency Pet Shelter Volunteer Application

Thank you for your interest in becoming an Emergency Pet Shelter (EPS) Volunteer!

Read the information below about the EPS volunteer role before continuing.

Emergency Pet Shelter Volunteer Information:

  1. Hurricane season in Hawaii is upon us. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center has forecasted 2-6 hurricanes for this year’s hurricane season. A gentle reminder that all numbers aside, it only takes one hurricane to have a huge impact on our islands. The Hawaiian Humane Society is the designated first responder in protecting Oahu’s pets in the case of natural disasters.
  2. Emergency Pet Sheltering (EPS) is a program we have in place to respond to emergencies and disasters island wide as it pertains to animals. Through this program, we set up temporary pet shelters adjacent to human emergency shelters across the island to house the pets of individuals in our community, with our goal of keeping pets and their people together.
  3. Volunteers in this role would be responsible for supervising these pet shelters with Hawaiian Humane support. This role is an on-call position and only deployed in the case of a natural disaster. Volunteers must be age 18 or older.
  4. Because of COVID-19, Red Cross is stocking up on masks and hand sanitizer for shelters, but people will be encouraged to bring their own. There will be a nurse-staffed isolation room at each shelter for anyone with a fever or other COVID symptoms.
    1. When Hawaiian Humane is alerted of an impending natural disaster, the staff will begin preparations.
    2. Hawaiian Humane Staff will send out a mass communication to all EPS volunteers to gauge if they would be available to volunteer during the emergency situation. At the same time, the Hawaiian Humane Society will work with local authorities to determine which locations will be opened as Emergency Pet Shelters.
    3. Once the Emergency Pet Shelters have been chosen by local authorities, Hawaiian Humane Society Staff will then contact the EPS volunteers who indicated they could volunteer during the emergency situation to assign them to shelters based on their availability and location on the island.
    4. EPS volunteers will be given instructions as to where to go, how to get set up, and will have Hawaiian Humane support in this process.
    5. Shift times at the Emergency Pet Shelters are 12 hours in length. EPS volunteers are permitted to bring their pets along with them to these shelters as long as they also bring along a crate or kennel to keep their pet safely in at all times.
    6. EPS volunteers will not be handling, feeding or walking animals while overseeing the Emergency Pet Shelter. This is the responsibility of the animal’s owner.
If you are interested in becoming an EPS volunteer, please click "Next"!