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In 1883, 350 concerned citizens including King Kalākaua organized what became the Hawaiian Humane Society, to advocate on behalf of companion and working animals. Our first office was a cottage on the ʻIolani Palace grounds. The organization’s mission quickly grew to include prevention of cruelty to children and the care of single mothers in need of assistance.
In 1897, 26 year-old Helen Kīnaʻu Wilder, member of a prominent kamaʻāina family, was given the authority to enforce animal cruelty laws as the first female police officer of the Hawaiian Police Force. She and her friends pooled their resources to pay a salary to hire Chang Apana, our first animal crimes investigator. Our welfare efforts were aimed more at working animals than pet cats or dogs. Even then, education was a top priority. In a time when animal information was very basic, it fell to those early members to raise public awareness about the proper care, feeding and humane treatment of animals. The vision of those early pioneers continues to guide our efforts today.
In 1935, we turned over the child protection functions to government agencies such as Child Protective Services allowing us to focus our energies exclusively on the needs of Oʻahu’s animals.
In 1942 we moved to our current campus in Mōʻiliʻili, and have since expanded our facility several times to meet the growing need, most recently in 2016 with the construction of our Veterinary Services Hospital.
2023 marks a momentous year, with the opening of our second location, the Kosasa Family Center at Ho'opili in ʻEwa Beach in May and celebrating our 140th anniversary on July 24. To get involved in helping us to achieve greater milestones in supporting Oʻahu’s pets and people, visit our Get Involved tab!