Oahu SPCA

Love that this is a no-​kill shelter. However, the facilities are in need of a little TLC. I also appreciate the staff — very helpful.
Continue to support if you are looking for a pet (I adopted my kitten from here!)
They also offer other services and have limited vet staff that can assist with your pet’s needs (just call ahead to find out more info).
Check it out, hope you find your next best friend!

Oahu SPCA seems like a genuine charity that isn’t out to get your money and really cares about the animals they take care of.
A few weeks ago, I took my 1 year old kitten there to get neutered. I’m not sure if I got lucky but I called them and managed to book an appointment the next day. The surgery and microchip implant went very well and my cat healed up within 3 – 4 days. Also, while it may be an atypical case for other kittens, my kitten stopped spraying 1 day after being neutered, cold turkey. He is now back to his rascally self but we do notice him being less alpha and more friendly to our other cat which is great!
The lady on the phone seems very polite as well as the lady at the front desk when I got there for the appointment. I’m not sure if it was the same person but they were very accommodating and reassuring. I also met the vet when I went to pick up my kitten post surgery and she explained what she had done and what to expect.
Don’t expect to see a top dollar facility such as VCA and don’t judge them based on the appearance since they’re not charging people $ 300 for a routine blood test, which is blatant highway robbery. They charged $ 80 for chipping AND neutering, a very good price. Maybe the only drawback is this particular location is far for non Kalama Valley residents and you probably don’t want to take your pet there for an emergency if you live elsewhere. Other than that, I recommend to take your dog/​cat to get neutered/​spayed to this facility unless you can get an appointment with Kalihi Valley Pet Clinic but their waiting list is booked for months.

Brought my little fur baby to get neutered here because I saw that they only charge $ 150! Once you enter the driveway, you go straight to the back where you can hear all the animals. The place seems like it’s under some renovations maybe? It looks slightly dirty, but you are immediately greeted by the staff. A+ on the friendliness. My baby was so scared hearing all the dogs barking at him so it made it hard to leave him there. Drop off is between 830−9am. Once I dropped him off, my boyfriend & I decided to grab something to eat to spare the drive since we don’t live near Kapolei. Around 1030, the vet called us saying that Toby is doing well & the procedure was done and to give 1 more hour for them to just monitor him. When I got back he did seem sleepy but the vet assured me not to worry! He’ll be sleepy for the day.
We are home, finally & he seems to be handling post neuter pretty well, just getting his rest. Thank you OSPCA for a job well done!

Great place with kind hearted people. Please know they all (volunteers, etc.) Are doing the best they can with limited resources and lack of funds. They are great to animals, open your heart to them. It is a well meaning place! My dog, the love of my life, is from there!

All stuff are very nice and kind! I adopted a puppy from OSPCA. They take good care of animals at shelter!!!

Wonderful animals here! I just wanted to take them all home. However, the facilities could use help. Please donate.

We got our dog neutered here and had a great expierence. Everyone was extremely nice and friendly and they were so sweet to my pup. The vet was very helpful and answered all our questions.

I couldn’t be happier with my SchätziBaby! (Formerly, «Harley Quinn) I adopted her when she just 2 ½ months and she is now just under 4months, and growing every day! She’s a Blood Shepherd (Blood Hound/​German Shepherd hybrid), and when I got her she was a mere 9lbs and some change; I was told she was «very mellow and shy for a puppy,» but I now know that that was merely because all she knew at that point in all her 12 weeks of living, was cage walls, no play time and very little human interaction. Apparently, some «back-​yard breeder» dropped her and her 3 other sibling off at OSPCA claiming that they «weren’t big enough and didn’t look «ideal» enough for Blood Shepherds to make him any money… Boy did he miss out on some amazing dogs; his loss, my gain!
Schätzi is now just under 24lbs and as healthy as can be, per her second vet visit with us, yesterday. She has also become so comfortable, happy and such a spunky little sweetheart, now that she is receiving the love she deserves! We play daily, go to Hickam Doggie beach as often as we can, and she’s so very smart; within the first two weeks of having her, she was already potty trained, and sitting, laying down, shaking hands and «coming/​staying, all on command — earning herself lots of yummy treats!
I hope that by matching all our adoption fees with a donation to y’all, you’ve been able to buy all your dogs/​cats some food, toys, meds, etc… I’m planning on returning in the near future to pick up a feline fur-​baby, as well; Schätzi is already GREAT with kitties and loves them very much!
Thanks again, OSPCA, for not only bringing this angel into my life, but for also being the ONLY 100% NO-​KILL SHELTER on the island; your work is TRULY appreciated and I only wish I could’ve donated even more money to help y’all! I will be matching again when it’s time to get our kitty!
God Bless everyone at OSPCA!
(PS — I will post a couple photos in a moment after I submit this review!!)

I had adopted a doberman/​hound mix 5 month old puppy from here. It was when they had them at the petco adoption weekend. All I was told was that she was «shy» but that was not the case. She had serious issues. She had no social skills and hid from my husband and I all day in her kennel and would run from us when we tried to pick her up to take her outside to use the bathroom. We were not told of her issues at all and sadly had to take her back because I’m about to have a baby and we knew that would scare her even more. Also I find it ridiculous that it cost us 300 dollars to adopt her. She’s not full bred and it’s a shelter. That place is so run down and dirty and when we took her back and explained how she was acting and why it wouldn’t work the lady acted like I was a terrible person and I was already crying my eyes out the whole time because I felt so bad for taking her back! The Hawaii Humane Society is 100 times nicer and more helpful. I feel bad for the animals at the SPCA. I won’t be coming back here.

My cat was spayed at the Oahu SPCA. She also was microchipped and had her nails trimmed. The procedure went fine and she is recovering well.
I am concerned because upon her pick up, she was in a kennel and she was soaked in her own pee (and I don’t know how long she was left like that). We had originally brought our own cage for her, but were instructed to transfer her into their portable kennel. The Oahu SPCA facility itself was dirty and unkept as well. The attendant dry washed her after she took her out of the pee-​filled kennel and we took her home.
She is an indoor cat and does not interact with other animals. That same night we took her home, we noticed that she had a flea. This problem has persisted and we found she has multiple fleas.
This is concerning since we had hoped that the facility where our cat was having her procedure would be clean and hygienic. It is a huge disappointment and very discouraging that our cat has likely acquired fleas from the Oahu SPCA, especially since we paid for her procedure and were expecting overall quality and a clean facility. We are now faced with the additional costs to treat her fleas, something that could have most likely been prevented if the facility and container she was in were properly cleaned and maintained.
I would recommend that someone clean the facility to help prevent this problem from happening to other innocent animals and their caretakers.

I recently found out that they accept all donations including those unused clothing items that we all have in our closet but have no use for, also they need towels to wash the shelter animals with… instead of donating to goodwill and salvation army (which already gets a ton of donations), DONATE TO THE NO KILL ANIMAL SHELTER… YOU CAN DROP IT OFF AT THEIR LOCATION IN KAPOLEI AND FEEL GREAT AFTERWARDS! NOT TO MENTION GET RID OF UNUSED ITEMS!

I feel this establishment EARNED A 5-​STAR review for this one reason: this is a NO KILL animal shelter. If you just can’t keep your loved pet for any reason, (and it should be a serious reason, not just because you don’t want him/​her anymore) this is the place to go.
The lady here is SO NICE. She is the Point-​of-​Contact when you call and go here. The Manager is a quiet man and the on-​site Vet is kind as well. Dogs receive large outdoor cages, cats receive indoor cages.
Donations are a MUST if you care for the sad little furry friends without love… If you’re in Kapolei, make it a point to help these furry friends who need love, even if you can’ take them home. Food, cat litter, toys, pet needs, etc. Please donate something. Cash, Check, and Credit Cards are welcome. Donate and help a pet in need.
If you want to VOLUNTEER, this is the place to come. You can walk the dogs, play with the cats, and other needs of the pets seeking a loving home. Maybe you’ll find the pet you have been wanting all your life? Maybe the pet will find a home he/she’s been wanting all their life?

I have never been to such a dirty dog shelter before. All of the dogs looked diry and sick. Of the dogs who did not look half dead they did seem to be aggressive. One dog was covered in his own diarrhea. The management did know anything about common breeds.
The cats were sweet. But covered in litter and dirt. Thw cats are also being held in an office like setting so its very cramped.

I’ve been sitting on this review for quite some time now… wondering how to eloquently state what OSPCA does and how to verse my experience there so as not to deter others.
On a whim, my husband and I decided to go and explore our new neighborhood and the surrounding areas and were quite surprised when we stumbled upon the OSPCA. We walked around the shelter and observed so many older dogs that looked to be hurt and/​or sick and quite a few more that were probably rescued from being homeless and hungry. It’s quite a scene actually… sad and scary all at the same time. There’s no cute snippet of some sort that explains the dog’s circumstance or even a given name to encourage adoption (like what the Hawaii Humane Society does), it’s just a dog in a fenced kennel with a feeding bowl and maybe a blanket or cot.
We had discussed rescuing yet another dog (as was our last pup) but I was very hesitant to adopt an older, bigger dog not knowing the circumstances of how the animal got placed in a shelter. Was the dog homeless? Was the dog surrendered by it’s owner and why? Was the dog abused? All these things played on my mind and I came to the fact that I’m just too scared to adopt an older dog without knowing it’s background history. I wanted a puppy and all these were older dogs. What I didn’t know was that there is a separate open aired warehouse (next to the parking lot) where they house the puppies.
The puppies are separated from the older dogs to prevent cross contamination of sickness and plus the puppies are so vulnerable and probably should be separated from the general canine population until after their initial shots. There were older, adopt-​ready puppies and very, very new puppies not ready for adoption yet.
There is some truth in that saying that goes says the dog/​pup chooses you and not the other way around. It was love at first sight for the both of us (me and the sweetest, most handsome-​ist puppy ever). He made sure it was him I picked up and once I did, I was pretty much sold! I looked at my husband and he already knew what I was going to ask him, «can we keep him?» It was kismet!
Needless to say, the papers were signed and the fees paid. It was a little more than we expected to pay as compared to the Humane Society’s adoption fee (I’m sorry I don’t remember the cost exactly). With the fee came the complimentary neutering and vaccinations.
Our problem with OSPCA came when it was time to get our dog neutered. Like other reviewers who had multiple problems getting an appointment or any response from the staff regarding this service — we experienced the same. Between the multiple phone calls and left messages, our requests were never answered in a timely matter if at all. In fact, we had forgotten all about it for a while but then sought them out again after our dog was humping everything in sight, including family and guests. Finally, after one last phone call my husband decides to write an email indicating that if they did not follow through with their end of the «deal» (regarding neutering at their expense), we would take care of the procedure ourselves with our vet and simply forward our bill to them for repayment. It worked! We got a response immediately and was given a date and time to drop our fur-​kid off.
I understand being short staffed and overworked. It seems that the clerical/​administrative accountability of this non-​profit group is lacking big time but perhaps taking care of the dogs and cats take precedence over that kind of stuff. I can’t make excuses for them but at the end of the day, care of these neglected, sick and abandoned animals trump any kind of paperwork detail. Not negating the need for it at all but just simply trying to look at the bigger picture.
What I’ve come to is this — it’s NOT a glamorous place and it has NO curb appeal for the would-​be buyer There is no way to sugar coat the obvious when you visit this animal shelter. It’s located in an industrial area of Kalaeloa/Barber’s Point and confusing as heck to find. Additionally, the shelter itself is housed in an open aired warehouse (covered but still open aired, which is probably a good thing to get some much needed ventilation). The place reeks of animal feces and urine. But to put things in perspective, THIS IS AN ANIMAL SHELTER staffed with a handful of paid employees and loyal volunteers. It’s a non-​profit, no-​kill animal shelter that gets it’s funding from donations, contributions and fundraiser.
OSPCA does a great job of rescuing these animals and albeit the dogs are in an open warehouse — they get shelter, food, water and medical care when needed. As with any business and/​or organization, it is a work in progress that could stand improvements all around, so KUDOS to the staff and volunteers for doing all that you

Administrative skills are most definitely lacking. I understand that its a very busy shelter… but. come on!
Here’s the thing…
A few months ago I found a dog at the beach. He had a collar, nails trimmed, fairly clean etc… I thought for sure he had just gotten loose. So… I brought him home. Posted flyers in the area, social media, and filled out a report with HHS. A month later & no one came to claim him.
Being that OSPCA was a no-​kill I went down to check it out. Sigh* I couldn’t get myself to leave him there! It was over crowded and smelt awful.
My dilemma at this point was that I own females. None of which are spayed. I’m sure you see where I’m going with this…
I offered OSPCA to foster him if they would neuter him. After a couple of weeks with no response… I tried again. The second time I got a response within a week or so. We went over my concerns being that I have unfixed females. They gave me the «green light» & had me fill out a foster application. Mind you I’ve already had him for 2 months! A little annoyed I filled them out anyways. I was told they didn’t have any openings for surgeries until October… They then took down all my information phone #, email, & so forth…
I NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN!!!
Here it is November & I just helped deliver my SECOND litter of puppies! I can’t help getting teary eyed writing this. Its hard it really is… Who is to blame in this situation? Me? For not having my girls fixed? Them? Either way… the damage has been done.
Honestly… I was just trying to do something from my heart in bringing that dog home. I could only hope that if one of my babies out someone would do the same for me.

Update 06/​07/​2013:
I am sad to report that although my prior experience with the OSPCA as a donator was good (4 Stars), having since been involved in two adoptions, my perspective has changed drastically. The leadership at the OSPCA, namely the two top leaders there, is severely lacking in people and administrative skills. While I think I could deal with the occasional, «oops, I’m sorry» from administrative oversights, it’s the morose, calloused demeanor, and insensitivity towards those of us trying to contribute to the ultimate goal of providing these pets safe and loving homes that I cannot tolerate. The OSPCA’s communication skills are terrible. They speak to you in a condescending manner but frankly, you’re lucky if you even get that because 9 times out of 10, they just won’t respond to you. Read through the reviews and you will find that I am not the only one who has experienced this. I am left wondering, how in the world do you accomplish your mission if you can’t interacting with people in a kind and respectful manner?
As of right now, I have been waiting for a response from them for 3 weeks. The conversation ended abruptly (meaning they stopped responding) after I attempted to schedule the service that was promised when I adopted my pet. Imagine my dilemma of needing them to contact me but knowing it was going to be a horrible experience when they finally did. It’s a complete no-​win.

If I could give this place 10 stars, I would. The entire team here, I felt, went above and beyond for me. My situation is a bit different than most as I actually got our dog off Craigslist.
We responded to a Craigslist ad and went to go see this adorable puppy. When we got to the house, he was covered in fleas! He still needed to be neutered and hadn’t received all of his shots BUT we instantly fell in love with this adorable little guy. The owners, who were trying to sell him for $ 300, told us we could contact the SPCA and get him neutered and shots done there for free. Since this was an already high asking price, I contacted the Oahu SPCA via Facebook. I received almost an immediate response. In the contract with the SPCA you are not to re home your animal if you cannot keep it, but rather return it to the SPCA, and here these people were trying to make a few bucks off this little guy. Sarah, contacted them and apparently «read them the riot act.» Long story short, we received our dog, without paying the extra $ 300 they wanted.
The dog still needed a lot done though, so Abby the director, allowed us to bring him straight there, treat him for fleas and update his shots. On top of that, she allowed us to bring him in the very next day to be neutered. They were so nice and happy to see one of their animals going to a good home.
Even after all this, I being the forgetful person that I am, did not remember to get my paperwork from his original time in. I contacted them via Facebook again and Sarah stepped up to the plate, almost immediately again, and told me she’d scan them to me the next day. Sure enough, she followed through!
I know this place is extremely understaffed and probably really under budget as well. They are hard to get a hold of via telephone, but man, what these fine people wouldn’t do to see a dog go to a good home! Support the no kill shelter and help them out! They really just want their animals to go to good homes!

I signed up to volunteer here a couple of years ago but flaked out. The SPCA emailed me several times to check when I could come down. I never responded and yes I did feel guilty about it. You really have to praise people that set time away from their life to do good deeds. It’s always easier said than done.
Fast forward to 2 years later and I ended up signing up to volunteer here again (okay so it was work related, but still…). I pictured my day of volunteering to be well… different. After spending a few hours here, I realized why they kept trying to contact me to help out years ago.
The location of this place is in the industrial area of Kapolei. While driving here I kept picturing turning into the humane society so I did get lost. Luckily I had my Waze app to help me find it. I can’t give directions though because I’m still surprised on how I found the place to begin with (yes… Even with the help of Waze since my sense of direction is horrible). It’s between the aloha petroleum and some other gas company (literally in between them).
The entire establishment looks to be of an old warehouse, that wasn’t enclosed. Sort of like when you see workers throwing material off the edge of a platform into trucks parked right upfront ready for shipping and delivery. I can’t give the best description of this place, but what I can tell you is this establishment needs a lot of help. There are a couple of workers here but not nearly enough to keep this place in good condition.
What I imagined to be a fun day with the dogs & cats, turned out to be well… depressing. The animals here are rescued and sadly for some you can visually see the abuse and rough life they had prior to being placed here. It was really heartbreaking. The cats are in crates, most of them are tucked in the office and a few are left in the opposite area of the dogs. The dogs are in large fences which list the name and how long ago they arrived here. Keep in mind this is near barbers point so this place can get extremely hot. The only space air conditioned in this facility is their small office so majority of the animals are exposed to high heat. From what I saw a lot of them have been here for well over a year.
If you are considering to help their website has a donation wish list for items you can purchase or maybe even items you probably have just lying around collecting dust. Or perhaps you’re thinking of donating your time. I must admit the work I did with my company falls under hard labor in my opinion & I swear with the sun beaming on me I was close to passing out several times, however they have other work available to fit what you are capable of doing. For example there was a volunteer there that came later in the day who walks the dogs regularly. I may consider signing up for something like that (& yes… On my own time). The Oahu SPCA really needs our support.

About a year & a half ago my husband and I had just moved to Hawaii and wanted to add some fur-​kids to our family. We went to the Oahu SPCA and the first time we went, we found our pup & our kitten. Everyone was friendly, and helped us with all of the paperwork and details for the adoption. We picked up our kitten that day, and waited a few days for him to get his scent around the house before picking up our pooch. Our cat was in good health when we adopted him, and the only issue our dog had was some balding patches in her fur, and dry skin (which we cleared up in just a few weeks by putting her on filler-​free food).
The experience I had here wasn’t the only reason I give the SPCA 5 stars, I also genuinely believe in adopting animals from shelters! If I had money to donate, I would donate it to the SPCA.

Up front you guys need to know something. I give the Oahu SPCA 5 stars only for the sake of encouraging people to provide a FOREVER home to some of gods wonderful creatures. Adopt the animals for the sake of helping a creature who desperately needs you. DO NOT expect it to be easy, cheap or pleasant. I ABSOLUTELY advocate adoption over purchase because these animals need loving homes, however I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the other side of the coin by recognizing the reasons why breeders are an option for some people.
Health = I adopted Mini Moose from the SPCA and was immediately deluged with health problems. The volunteer who introduced me to my little darling said he had a slight kitty infection which he was getting over and gave me some medicine which she told me would prevent my other cat from catching it. Well, within a week I had to take both cats to the vet and the news was bad, they had upper respiratory infections, ring worm, ear mites and horrible fleas. When I expressed surprise at the news my vet told me that it was common for animals coming from the SPCA to be sick and pass it along to the other household pets. I was one of many people to have this experience when adopting from them. The cost of vet treatment for two cats 500.00.
Temperament = There are so many animals and potential owners coming in the doors of the SPCA that most of the volunteers can’t spent the necessary time to get to know each individual animal or human and there for may not be able to make an accurate assessment of the animals temperament or the potential owners needs/​lifestyle which may accidentally produce a bad match of animal/​owner.
Customer service = My experience was pretty good but while I was there I witnessed other people being treated rudely. They let me play with all the kittens I wanted to and in the end despite of all the problems I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the awesome little boy I adopted.
Cost = 60.00 and that included micro-​chipping and neutering.
Return Policy = There contract states that they will take back any unwanted animal, however while I was there an older man came in and wanted to give them back a cat he had adopted. Per the volunteer he had adopted two cats and wanted to bring one back. She enthusiastically and quite vocally expressed to me her disgust with the man. While I can understand being frustrated with the situation, I felt that as it was part of the SPCA’s contract to take back unwanted animals it was inappropriate to blatantly display her displeasure and to apprise another potential owner of the situation.
As i said before I would adopt here again but only for the sake of the animals.
There are several reasons why breeders are still in business, not puppy mills and kitty mills but legit breeders are who I am referring to.
Health = They will guarantee the health of the animal with a written contract.
Temperament = They know the temperament of their breed and will tell you if the breed is not a good match for your lifestyle/​personality.
Customer service = They are customer service oriented because it is a business and not a volunteer program.
Return Policy = They will take the animal back if at a time you become unable/​unwilling to care for it.
In the end I think adoption first but respect anothers right to chose otherwise.