Even when you say you are taking a work trip to Hawaii, people scoff. But members of our Emergency Services team and other HSUS staff who responded to a crisis there had a legitimate claim. They waded through filth to rescue hundreds of animals from a so-called animal sanctuary.

Our Hawaii State Director Inga Gibson collaborated with the Oahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on a negotiation with the widower of the property owner to surrender the 400 animals in distress in West Oahu, and then they called in members of our Emergency Services unit to manage the operation of an emergency shelter and the handling and transporting of animals—more than 100 dogs, 100 cats and 200 fowl.

As you'll see in these photos and our video report from the field, some of the animals were emaciated and suffering from serious skin and eye infections and parasite infestations. The Hawaiian Humane Society is now conducting an investigation into this alleged hoarding case. But the animals are now all resting comfortably in an emergency shelter and, as Scotlund Haisley, our senior director of Emergency Services said in a memo to staff, we hope they'll now have a chance to find their own paradise.

Photos © The HSUS/Kathy Milani