Flying for the Animals

Frank and Ory-Lynn Puaoi-Kuamoo foster a wide range of animals at their Ho’olehua home. Photo by Dayanti Karunaratne

By Dayanti Karunaratne | Editor

As the island continues to recover from the Kona Low storms, a group of animal lovers are making sure the needs of our four-legged residents are not forgotten. Most recently, their mission included receiving donated animal feed at the airport. 

“It’s a beautiful collaboration between hearts around the islands who know that Molokai is always left out,” Maraya Pierro of Rescue Kitties of Hawaii said. “But not anymore. It’s time to change that and help the animals. This community is such an animal-loving community.”

The effort to supply the island with animal feed began after the storms in March, when the Oahu branch of Rescue Kitties of Hawaii reached out to her offering pet supplies. Pierro founded the nonprofit animal rescue organization on Oahu in 2021 but now lives on Molokai. 

“All the attention was going to the big islands,” Pierro told the Dispatch on June 11 about the effort to supply aid to the islands in the wake of the storms “All the big organizations were helping them, and no one was helping Molokai.”

Pierro explained that “there were dogs all over the island” that had been displaced by the storms. 

“They end up in people’s backyards, and those people want to help, but no one has extra dog food. There are so many animals that are starving on this island. And then they go and start eating the goats and the chickens,” she said.

Rescue Kitties sourced two pallets of animal feed, which were sent to Molokai by Kamaka Air, with rescue partners even footing the bill for shipping.

This month, Leilani Ng, President and Founder of Oahu’s Aloha Kitty Trap, Neuter and Return, contacted Pierro to say they had feed to offer — donated by Aliʻi Animal Hospital, among others — but no way to ship it out. Pierro said she immediately thought of Kelma Namakaeha, who works with Aloha Aviators, a nonprofit organization that serves underserved communities while providing networking and mentoring to new pilots. The aviation school teamed up with the Professional Asian Pilots Association to fly the goods from Honolulu to Molokai.

“The timing is phenomenal. We haven’t had a barge delivery in over a week, and the shelves are bare in town,” Namakaeha said on June 11. She oversees receiving and distributing the donated goods to the Molokai community. 

Namakaeha said the future looks good for the partnership, which includes Pacific Flight Academy. “The founders of Aloha Aviators and Pacific Flight Academy share a common vision and have collaborated since 2020 on charitable missions.”

Looking to access donated animal feed? Look out for social media posts or contact the team through https://rescuekittiesofhawaii.org/contact-us/