Big Island Dog Rescue

It was always about more than saving dogs.

When Kailua-Kona resident Tasi Autele sat down with his daughter Finnley at the Hawaii Island Humane Society on a recent day and reluctantly told her that some pets never find homes, the girl took the news with a child's faith.

"She went around and talked to all the dogs," said Autele. "She said, ‘My daddy's not going to let anything happen to you.'"

And when Finnley, 4, returned, she looked her father squarely in the eyes and asked, "Right, Dad?"

Autele smiled, squirmed and made a promise he had no idea whether he could keep.

"That's right, sweetie."

Weeks of brainstorming with his wife, Tricia, followed. The couple decided to try to create a program inspired by the Maui Humane Society's Wings of Aloha Transfer Program.

On March 6 three dogs boarded an Alaska Airlines flight from Kona to Portland, Ore., bound for the Columbia Humane Society in Sandy. Among the departing was Luke, a shy, placid 4-year-old Cata­houla who had been dropped off during the night at the Humane Society.

The shipment marked the sixth animal that Autele's newly formed Big Island Dog Rescue has placed with the Oregon facility since it started operating at the beginning of February.

"What's going on in the Pacific Northwest is that there is a huge demand and no supply," said Columbia shelter manager Dean Cox, reached by phone. "We bring 40 dogs up in a van load at a time from L.A. What Tasi is doing is easy to manage."

Eventually, Autele would like to transport dogs from overburdened shelters around the state to mainland facilities with high adoption rates.

It's taken a lot of work, and it's going to take more. Autele has maxed out credit cards, and he estimates he's spent 12 to 15 hours a day getting the venture registered and legal, setting up ways for people to donate, and networking between the Hawaii Island Humane Society and the mainland.

It costs about $450 to ship each dog by cargo, so Autele is seeking volunteers to fly dogs as checked luggage to Portland, and volunteers willing to fly back with empty pet carriers.

"The infrastructure is in place now," he said.