With Maui animal shelters overflowing, volunteers step in to walk the pups

Published March 18, 2024 at 8:20 AM EDT

Host Robin Young with the dog she volunteered to walk. (Robin Young/Here & Now)

More than seven months after wildfires burned through more than 2,000 acres in Lahaina, Maui, the island continues to rebuild. But the process is slow, with about 5,000 Maui residents still displaced. And they aren’t the only ones: 3,000 animals also lost their homes at a time when Maui’s Humane Society was already overwhelmed.

Since the fires, officials at the shelter estimate it’s taken in more than 800 animals, which staff and volunteers are struggling to feed and care for. Shelter workers say monetary donations help, but there’s also another way to pitch in: walking the shelter’s dogs.

Host Robin Young recently volunteered and was matched with a black lab mix named Trevor. She reports on the experience.

Host Robin Young worked with a black lab mix named Trevor. (Robin Young/Here & Now)

Keani Barrister, a welfare officer at Human Society. (Robin Young/Here & Now)

Robin Young walks on the beach with Trevor, the dog she volunteered to walk . (Robin Young/Here & Now)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.