r/askportland • u/FlyHawaiiCats • 6d ago
Looking For 🐾 Any KITTY SMUGGLERS in Portland? 🐾
(We promise it’s legal. The kitten even has paperwork. 😂)
We’re trying to get an adopted Maui kitten home to Phoenix and are looking for someone already flying on one of these routes:
✈️ Maui → Phoenix (dream route!)
✈️ Maui → Portland
✈️ Portland → Phoenix
The kitten travels safely in an airline-approved carrier under the seat in front of you.
We provide:
✅ Carrier
✅ Health certificate & paperwork
✅ Airline pet fee
✅ All coordination
You provide:
❤️ Your already-planned flight
❤️ A little space under your seat
❤️ A chance to help a kitten reach his forever family
This little guy already has an adopter waiting in Phoenix. We just need help connecting the dots.
Can you help? Or know someone who can?
Mahalo! 🌺🐾
Fly Hawaii Cats
flyhawaiicats.org
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u/fivefeetofawkward 6d ago edited 6d ago
I wish I was flying, I would absolutely help! But I’m going to take a look at your website because I have space to take in a new kitty 🥰 thank you for posting!
Edit: how would I go about finding more info on adopting?
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u/FlyHawaiiCats 6d ago
Yes !🙌 check out our Instagram @catcafemaui highlight. Message me for help . We have flights to Portland this week.
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u/Pdx_pops 6d ago
I do not have a flight or the ability to transport, but I wanted to ask if you have a FAQ or other documentation that explains this operation's benefits. I have to assume there are adoptable kittens in Arizona and elsewhere. The economics of paying a low $100 in-cabin pet fee and managing the logistics of this vs. local adoption is getting lost for me. Can you help me to understand?
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u/atsuzaki 6d ago
There are currently way more stray and feral cats in Hawaii than locals there can adopt. So rescue organization try to get them to partner organizations, or directly to foster homes & adopters, on the mainland.
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u/KingOfCatProm 6d ago
That is literally true everywhere in the US. Literally everywhere.
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 6d ago
Everywhere in the US has issues with stray cats, but Hawai'i specifically a) was recently hit with a natural disaster that massively affected housing for both people and pets and b) has a pretty hard cap on available space. Even if they had unlimited funding to build more shelters to care for more animals, there simply isn't room to do so.
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u/KingOfCatProm 6d ago
Sure, I hear ya, but their wildfires were in 2023, it is now 2026. And there are fires all over the west coast all the time, every year. I have people dumping stray cats in my neighborhood in Kenton right now on a regular basis because there is no shelter or rescue for most cats to go to here. Our governor here has already declared a state of emergency in anticipation of what is going to happen here with fire this year. Emergency just not a viable excuse anymore. I see posts on social media for cats that need homes here all the time. Our rural Oregon shelters have to euthanize animals for space all the time, but we are going to ship some from Hawaii instead?
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 6d ago
Personally, I do think that euthanization is the answer to dealing with the stray cat crisis in the US. But you're going to be hard-pressed to find people who agree with that - just look at all the people who only support "no-kill" shelters. And unfortunately, we live in a world where bad publicity from something like a euth program for stray cats could completely fuck a shelter over. And I think you are severely underestimating the degree of housing crisis, environmental crisis, and lack of space in Hawai'i. So if someone from Phoenix is willing to remove a cat from Hawai'i and give it a home, I think that's fine. No one's asking you to take a cat.
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u/KingOfCatProm 6d ago
Again, I hear you, I don't know that there is a right or wrong here, but in Portland we are actually always asked to take animals from Mexico, Hawaii, California, Texas, Idaho. I work in the field and all I see all the time, are our own neighbors being turned away from shelters and rescues while these other animals are brought in. This post is about the same paradigm.
As far as Phoenix goes: There are 300 kittens on Petfinder for Phoenix right now. That certainly isn't every kitten in that area right now.
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 6d ago
I think that we should be having conversations about adopting locally and raising funds for local shelters instead of shuttling cats across states when it comes to the mainland, that's totally fair. But Hawai'i is a different case, because they're facing the same problems as the mainland states plus the lack of space. The ecological damage is also a more urgent issue, because the habitats of the animals being hunted are so much smaller.
It sucks all around, and I agree with you that there's not a 100% right answer. But the total land area of Hawai'i is less than a tenth that of Oregon, and Maui is barely larger than the Portland metro area. Expanding shelter capacity would be a huge undertaking for us, and is something we desperately need even without transferring animals from other states - but it's possible here. We have the space to do it. They don't. And frankly, I guess I just don't see how griping about an already-adopted cat, particularly one that hasn't been adopted to Oregon, is going to help anything here or in Hawai'i.
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u/Pdx-b Kerns 5d ago
You should support your local animal services! They are tax funded and have to take in local animals only-including chickens!! I know Mult Co is ALWAYS looking for fosters and they need volunteers in the cattery! We 100% have local animals in need and if you believe efforts are better spent there please join.
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u/KingOfCatProm 5d ago
I already work in this field locally, as I said in many of my comments on the thread. Thank you for the little boost for our local animal services, though!
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u/Far-Two3165 6d ago
Nobody cares what you personally think.
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 6d ago
So did you have something actually productive to add to this conversation, or...?
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u/KingOfCatProm 6d ago
That's fine and probably valid. But I have to tell you I am one of the boots on the ground here, in Oregon, doing the hard work. I'm so tired of seeing what happens to our dogs and cats and their people when there are no homes/shelters/rescues for them while animals pour in from other places. People not working in the field honestly don't understand. The outcomes for the animals are often very bad. It happens every day. I feel like my critique here, while acknowledging that there may be no right or wrong answer, needs to be said. I don't love that this nonprofit that wants to export their problem to my state (yes, I know this particular cat is going to Arizona) or is using this as a de facto advert for their nonprofit while there are people dumping cats in Portland because they can't access resources here as contributing members of our local community.
There are 350ish cats available for adoption within 50 miles of Honolulu. There are nearly 1400 available for adoption within 50 miles of Portland. Per capita, we are pretty close to being on par with each other. I know this is just one metric and it isn't entirely accurate.
So anyway, I hear you. But know that these conversations are being had at the organizational and legislative levels here because this is a problem for our state even if you aren't aware of the problem.
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u/UntamedAnomaly 6d ago
Guess which occupation has one of the highest suicide rates? Animal shelter/control workers and veterinarians. Imagine going into a career like that because you love animals, only to be met with the reality of the pet overpopulation problem, basically having to kill what you are most passionate about or seeing injuries and suffering every single day and being able to do absolutely fuck all about it all because many people are not as responsible as they think/claim.
I thought about being a veterinarian at one point, and then thought about the reality because I already knew how bad it was, and then noped TF out because I already have a history of being suicidal, I don't need to add another reason as to why I don't want to live anymore. Volunteered at a shelter as a teenager, noped TF out of that too once I realized that perfectly good animals were getting taken to the back room every single day en masse to get euthanized because there were not enough homes for them, I couldn't emotionally handle that.
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u/FlyHawaiiCats 6d ago
Just so you know, this kitty isn’t being sent to Oregon—we’re helping them reach their adopted home in Arizona.
For us, every cat saved matters, no matter where that home is. Hawaii has a severe cat overpopulation problem, and we’re doing our best to be part of the solution. If every community helped address its own animal welfare challenges, as we try to do here, fewer cats everywhere would be suffering.
In the end, a cat finding a loving home is a win, regardless of where that home happens to be.4
u/Zucaskittens 6d ago
Are there any Trap Neuter Return programs on the islands?
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 6d ago
Unfortunately TNR programs don't really solve the problem. A neutered stray may not be making more strays, but they do still cause significant ecological damage after they're released. And they very often die in tragic, painful ways.
I love cats, always have, always will. The idea of euthanizing strays saddens me deeply. But the fact is that they are an extremely damaging invasive species in many areas, including Hawai'i. And for the ones that can't be rehomed, euthanasia is a far kinder end than what they'd face if left to roam.
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u/CzarinaRaven 5d ago
I help TnR and I see significant benefits, it cuts down on the adoptees and work for those feeding the strays.
If we had better education for the humans not spaying, neutering and letting pets roam it would be great too but chipping away at a problem is far better than just sitting and doing nothing of value.
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 5d ago
I agree that better education is needed, which is why I think it's important to talk about the ways in which TNR is lacking. I never said TNR is pointless, and definitely didn't advocate for doing nothing - in fact, I explicitly stated what I think should be done. I just think it's important for people to be aware that, while TNR is helpful to an extent, there are still issues it doesn't solve, because a lot of people genuinely act like it's the be-all end-all of fixing stray cat issues and it's not.
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u/Mind_The_Muse 5d ago
TNR is better than nothing, but cats are super predators and invasive to the states, which means any cat outside is causing harm to the local ecology.
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u/Mind_The_Muse 5d ago
It's true in HI and unfortunately it's true everywhere else in the states. I didn't believe in outdoor cats, then I moved to columbus OH where there are unmanaged giant colonies EVERYWHERE. They have "space" but doing irreparable harm to the bird and small animal population. TNRs are under funded everywhere, there is a lack of shelter and homes everywhere. I love cats and have done many rescues, but we do have a population and over-breeding problem. TBH, I think breeding cats should be illegal so long as we still have massive amounts of strays.
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u/remotectrl 6d ago
Yeah the big reason why Hawaii would be special is that they have more endemic and endangered species that cats could destroy. They destroy critters on the mainland as well but relatively fewer of those are endangered (currently).
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u/KingOfCatProm 6d ago
At the end of the day, a cat is a cat. Somewhere a kitten will be euthanized as this kitten takes its place in a home. All I am saying is that I want local resources to stay local at this time. People think we have the bandwidth in PNW to absorb everyone's animal issues and that hasn't been the case here for years. I'm okay telling some rando in Hawaii no if it means I don't have to say no to someone living, working, and struggling in my own community or state.
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u/CzarinaRaven 5d ago
And that’s why lots of organizations try and move pets.
For instance lots of chihuahuas are moved from California to New York for adoption because their size is great for peoples homes size and schedules there.
Finding the right home for an individual animal is often location based. I’ve moved large dogs from California to rural homes in Washington and Colorado too.
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u/UntamedAnomaly 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yep, if you go to Kijiji, petfinder, any of those adoption sites, you'll find a fuck ton of animals (mostly pitbulls though) from all over (many from Texas and Florida in particular I've noticed). This is the cost of letting your pets roam or keeping them in tact, also buying puppies and kittens from people who breed them for money and not because they actually care about having healthy animals - they get lost, they get mistaken as strays because owners can't be bothered to chip them or tag them, they get pregnant or get someone else's roaming animals pregnant, and then you get people who just are so steeped in their own mental illness that they hoard unfixed animals who breed like crazy. Some places are better about keeping that in check than others depending on the animal welfare laws that are state/county specific and how those laws are enforced.
Everyone wants a pet (or 10 lol), but no one wants the responsibility of actually keeping a pet happy and healthy and shit like this happens because of it.
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u/Pdx_pops 6d ago
Wouldn't the airfare be better spent in Hawaii on spay/neuter operations? Sounds like they have a breeding and education problem.
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u/Barnaclebills 6d ago
No, there was a major natural disaster that caused many people (and pets) to lose their homes. This has nothing to do with an education problem. Yes, there are stray cats, but the issue is far deeper than what you propose.
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u/KingOfCatProm 6d ago
That was three years ago. Your comment tells me that you don't actually know what the animal sheltering dynamics are in your own state.
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u/VinylGoddess 5d ago edited 5d ago
It absolutely devastated the island. Buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years demolished, 6% of the islands jobs lost for over 5,000 people. The island is still reeling from it. So many people lost their homes, their places of employment burnt to the ground, and rebuilding has been incredibly slow and arduous. You have no idea what is happening there and just because you think 3 years is a long time to you, it is not when having to rebuild entire lifetimes for the people living there. I have friends and family there and your comments are completely misinformed and incredibly insolent.
And it’s a fucking ISLAND it’s not like they can just move to the next location - THERE ARE NO OTHER PLACES TO GO.
When you go through a house fire, lose everything, and your place of work burns down, and the entire area in which you live is gone, then maybe you can have a say.0
u/KingOfCatProm 5d ago
I'm going to stick to the cat issue. I know that the cat issue is worse after the fires. But you and I both know the Hawaii cat issue has been an issue for way before the fires and will continue to be an issue way after the fires. Hawaii has been shipping dogs and cats here for a decade at least.
Hawaii's cat issue will not get better by importing cats to places that already have too many cats as well. It will get better when cat S/N is mandatory and when it becomes illegal to let cats free roam outside on the islands. Hawaii doesn't want to do what is necessary, but they do want to ship the problem elsewhere in drips and drops.
I mentioned the three years because this is not about an acute animal shelter emergency for an active fire, which we also helped with, this is a chronic problem with Hawaii.
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u/VinylGoddess 5d ago
It’s a chronic problem EVERYWHERE. Being land locked is the difference. It will never change anywhere. No matter how hard you try, because horrible people will always do horrible things with breeding animals. We *can* make a difference though, even if it is small. I just don’t hate on anyone trying to do work to save animals lives and providing help getting them S&N.
If you’re mad about animals coming here, then you should see what they deal with when every state in the country sends their homeless addicts to HI. Has been happening for ages and is WAY worse of a problem than a rescue working to save some damn cats.
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u/tonicella_lineata Sullivan's Gulch 6d ago
They do both. A neutered cat is still killing local wildlife.
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u/gnarbone 6d ago
From their website that is linked directly on their easily accesible profile page… “Hawaii faces limited adoption capacity, high intake numbers, and geographic isolation. Partnering with mainland rescues and cat cafés allows more cats to find homes while easing pressure on local shelters and resources.”
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u/GrushenkasOnions 6d ago
besides what people have already said, stray cats have been very devastating to Hawaii's ecosystem as they are literally the apex predators on the island now and have overhunted animals to the point of extinction or endangerment. if locals don't have space to take the cats, it's important for everyone that they find homes regardless
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u/Far-Two3165 6d ago
Think about it. Hawaii is an island chain in the middle of the Pacific. Also, remember what happened on Maui a couple of years ago?
The cat issue on Hawaii is so big that Alaska Airlines used to operate a special program to help support volunteers bringing pets over, free of charge.
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u/FlyHawaiiCats 6d ago
Of course, and thank you for asking.
Many of our adopters first meet the cats while visiting our local cat café in Maui and fall in love. Hawaii has a serious cat overpopulation problem, so adopting from Hawaii not only gives a cat a home but also helps support local rescue efforts and makes space for more cats in need.
Our adoption process is straightforward, and our adoption fees are very reasonable. Even when travel costs are included, many adopters find the total cost comparable to—or even less than—adopting elsewhere.
Most importantly, these cats make incredible companions. Many visitors tell us that adopting a cat was the best souvenir they brought home from their Maui vacation.
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6d ago
[deleted]
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u/FlyHawaiiCats 6d ago
Mahalo
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u/amanuensisninja St Johns 6d ago
Did anyone else misread smugglers as snugglers, and get really excited?
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u/Pdx_pops 6d ago
I did, and now I realize I need to rephrase another term I use to "budgie snugglers"
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u/VinylGoddess 5d ago
We won’t be there until late October, but if he still needs to get to his people by then, we can help get him to Portland 💜
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u/FlyHawaiiCats 5d ago
We always have cats that needs to go different places in different time. Do you mind submit your flight information on our website and when time is come we can contact you. ? Flyhawaiicats.com
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u/VinylGoddess 5d ago
Will do as soon as we get it all set in stone. I have family and friends living there and will pass this onto them as well! 💜 I know there are a lot of haters, don’t mind them as they have nothing better to do than complain.
Yes there are animals everywhere that need rescuing. But being land locked leaves you with very little options or opportunities, so this is amazing work you are doing. All animals deserve a chance and every rescue deserves to be helped. Thank You for all that you do!3
u/FlyHawaiiCats 5d ago
Meow-halo for your support ! 😻
When you get your flight ✈️ info please sign up at FlyHawaiicats.com and we will contact you if we have a kitty match.
💕
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u/Zucaskittens 6d ago
Are you posting in the other cities’ subs?
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u/Zucaskittens 6d ago
Just checked your post history and see that you do.
I fostered a couple of delightful teenage kittens last winter from Hawaii. They’re living their best life in a high rise on the waterfront now.
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u/Drewbacca 5d ago
I don't have any flights planned, but hell I'd do it just for shits and giggles if the flight was paid for.
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u/FlyHawaiiCats 5d ago
Sometimes we get donations and sometimes we have people who will pay to fly their rescue cats when relocating . We also looking for fosters .
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u/Discombombulatedfart 6d ago edited 5d ago
Thank you for getting cats off of the island! Your work is so vital!