Maui Humane Society Seeks Help for Dog’s Medical Needs

“Fitz.” Photos courtesy Maui Humane Society.

The Maui Humane Society is seeking the public’s help with donations to help with the medical treatment of a dog found wandering on the Road to Hāna earlier this month.

A passerby found “Fitz” on Wednesday, Feb. 17, and brought him to the Maui Humane Society in the hopes that the organization could help the young dog.

Organization staff say that when Fitz was brought in, he was, “skin and bones, dehydrated and starving, with a broken jaw.”  Staff members estimate that the dog is about 1 ½ years old and say, “it is clear to see that he has been on his own for quite some time.”

“That said, he is still very affectionate and he seems to know that he can trust the staff and volunteers at the shelter to take good care of him,” said Nancy Willis, MHS’s Director of Development and Community Outreach.

Willis said Fitz has many medical issues that need to be addressed including a broken jaw, abscessed wounds, atrophied muscles, internal parasites and debris-irritated eyes.

The shelter has scheduled him for surgery on March 5; however, the organization says financial help is needed to help pay for his extensive medical treatment and have designated Fitz to be a recipient of The Hope Fund program.

The Hope Fund was started in 2010 in honor of a shelter dog named Hope, who entered the shelter with an untreated injury that had become life-threatening. Organization representatives say the fund allows the Maui Humane Society to go above and beyond what is typically affordable, to provide treatment and life-saving surgeries to homeless pets that exceed the normal resources at the shelter.

Donations from the Hope Fund have been used to pay for everything from heartworm treatments to amputations.  Willis said, the medical attention, “can greatly increase an animal’s quality of life, and ultimately allow them to be adopted into their forever homes.”

“The Maui Humane Society is asking for donations from the members of the community to help pay for the medical treatment that Fitz so desperately needs,” said Willis.  “Our goal is to get Fitz back in good health so he can get adopted and find that forever home that he so richly deserves,” she said.

Information on The Hope Fund including how to make a donation can be found at the Maui Humane Society website.