DOG PROFILES

• Maui

Maui is also known as Super-Maui, Mauser, Hula-Girl, Mauian, and little Hawaiian.

We were on vacation in Hawaii with Darren’s parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in April of 2003. During our stay we looked up the Maui Humane Society and drove out to visit. We were so impressed with their staff and program! They were doing amazing things with a huge amount of dogs, specifically pit bulls. There is definitely a Hawaiian cultural pride of pit bull ownership. Unfortunately, most people don’t spay or neuter their pits, so there is a proliferation of pit bulls in the shelters.

We played with some of the most beautiful pit bulls we have ever seen, including numerous puppies. After talking with the staff about our idea of a pit bull rescue program in Oregon, they let us come back and see the rest of the facility and take out their pit bulls for exercise. There was one particular black puppy that they thought we should take. After long talks and soul searching about the logistics, we both agreed that a puppy stands a good chance of getting adopted. So we declined their offer to send the puppy back with us.

Maui is a native Hawaiian, where pit bull ownership is part of a cultural pride. Unfortuantely, this leads to overcrowding in the island shelters.

However, we went back again a few days later and met with the Director of the shelter and the Executive Director of the board. We discussed our idea of creating Pawsitively Pit Bull back in Oregon, and learned a lot from them. They told us about the difficulty of being on an island where no one spays or neuters their animals. They are often over-run with pit bulls that are dropped off in the middle of the night. They were also suffering from budget cuts and staff shortages. We heard from them later that they had to lay off several dedicated workers due to lack of funding, although some employees continued to work without pay just so the shelter could remain open more days of the week. They are wonderful people who run a great program.

We worked at length to take “Momma Dog” home with us. She is a brown and white pit bull beagle mix who had been over-bred, and had her puppies with her in the shelter. She was great with humans, and her temperament showed that we could adopt her out easily, although she had been dog aggressive. We explained that we would be going to another island before we returned home. They coordinated an employee’s relative to fly the dog to Oahu to meet us at the airport. They finished all of the paperwork in record time and got proof of her vaccinations so we could fly her. We were lucky to contact the airline and get space in the cargo bay on our flight. If we couldn’t get the dog on the very same flight that we were on, it would have been hundreds of dollars and been cost-prohibitive.

Just days earlier, the United States invaded Iraq, which made airline flight even more problematic. There was even talk of shutting down all airlines due to security concerns. We wouldn’t have minded getting stranded in Hawaii, however, some airlines have a prejudice against pit bulls and refuse to fly them. There were tons of obstacles in our way.

Maui has a special fascination with Squirrels.

Luckily, the Maui Humane Society arranged for the dog to be transported to meet us, they supplied an airline kennel for us, and they described her as an American Staffordshire Terrier/Beagle, just in case some security agent had problems flying a pit bull across the Pacific Ocean. Since we couldn’t bring a dog into the hotel we were staying at, we kept the dog in the rental car after walking her on the Waikiki beach and Amanda slept in the car with her.

We were worried that if airlines can lose luggage so frequently, there was a good chance that they could lose a pit bull and send her to Alabama instead of Oregon. But we arrived home safely with our new pit bull imported from Hawaii. From the land of sun to the land of rain. One of the most amusing things was taking her outside to see snow for the first time in her life. She initially was pretty freaked out, but now she loves prancing around in the snow.

We named her Maui after the island she came from since we had such a fantastic time there. After all the hard work that went into bringing her over here, and after she got along so well with our other dogs, we decided that we would not adopt her out. She is a permanent souvenir of the fun experiences we shared in Maui.

Being from Hawaii, she had never seen squirrels before, as they are not present on the islands. The first time she saw some squirrels walking along our fence, she ran across the yard and flung herself at it, knocking out two planks. The fence boards landed on our neighbor’s woodpile, which she used as a ramp and tried to follow the squirrels onto their roof. After we broke out of our daze of surprise, we grabbed her before she tried to follow the squirrels into a tree. So we have a squirrel-aggressive Hawaiian pit bull.

Maui and Drunken Noodle were both spayed on the same day, and they bonded as they recuperated together. They are the best of friends. Maui is never happier then when she has a toy and runs around keeping Noodle from getting it as she chases her. She also enjoys singing. Maui is also known as Super-Maui, Mauser, Hula-Girl, Mauian, and little Hawaiian.