The Honolulu prosecutor's office has decided not to pursue a case against the surviving owner of a Leeward Coast animal shelter where more than 400 dogs, cats and birds were housed.
Norman Pang of Nanakuli had not been cited, arrested or charged for alleged cruelty to animals, but the Hawaiian Humane Society sought prosecution.
Pang, whose wife operated Animal Haven on the couple's property, died in July.
Pamela Burns, Hawaiian Humane Society chief executive officer, said she respected the prosecutor's office decision not to pursue the case against Animal Haven. The Humane Society forwarded all of its information to the prosecutor's office for determination, Burns said.
"Although we received numerous complaints, we were prohibited access to the property to conduct an animal cruelty investigation," Burns said in a prepared statement. "As a result our case was severely compromised. We stand by our decision to forward this case to the prosecutor's office for their determination about the strength and quality of the evidence to pursue a conviction."
In July, animal welfare agencies took control of the animals at the no-kill shelter that had been run by Pang's wife, Bonnie..." More
Missy, a pit bull mix, along with Shasta and Sedona, a pair of female shar-peis are three of roughly 50 dogs and 50 cats still living at a temporary shelter run by the Oahu SPCA. It's been fundraising to raise the $20,000 a month needed to keep the shelter running, ever since Norman Pang of Animal Haven surrendered the animals to the local group in July.
It was such a large job that Oahu SPCA asked the Humane Society of the United States for help, which video taped the removal of the animals. Pang is now suing the society for ruining his reputation because the video posted on the group's website paints him as an animal abuser..." More & video
Former Animal Haven Owner Files Suit
A hoarder, an abuser, even a murderer. Those are just a few of the names Norman Pang says he's been called since the rescue at his Waianae home. He says he feels like he's been stabbed in the back.
"I feel so betrayed because I thought the Humane Society of the United States was coming in to help me," said Norman Pang, co-founder of Animal Haven.
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After his wife died in July, Pang says he chose to give up more than 400 animals at his non-profit "The Animal Haven."
The agreement, that the Hawaiian Humane Society be left out of the process because of his rocky history with the local organization. So a crew, from it's national office, was flown in to help instead.
"When they came on my property with the cameras I immediately asked them what they were doing, and the guy with the camera told me we're doing a training film," said Pang.
But Pang says that was all a lie..." More
Dispatch from the front lines: Oahu hoarding case
From Scott Haisley, senior emergency services director, HSUS
'' 'Welcome to paradise' we heard the airline attendant announce as our 13-hour flight finally touched down on the island of Oahu. For most of the travelers on our packed flight this would be a dream vacation of surf and sand, but our team had come to the big island for a very different purpose. Just 15 hours before we had been given the go-ahead to embark on the largest animal rescue in Oahu’s recent history – saving more than 300 animals from a West Oahu hoarder.
As we filed out of the plane the incredible image of translucent aqua water was still seared on the back of my lids, but my mind had already begun to conjure up the images of intense suffering I knew we would be facing during our rescue. My first order of business was to gather the assessment team, animal handlers and sheltering specialist that we had flown in and discuss the plan of action. Specifically the difficult task of building an emergency shelter for several hundred animals from scratch on an island with few necessary resources.
Luckily I sent a stellar assessment team down the day before to secure materials necessary to build the shelter. Usually on the main land our Animal Rescue team can simply have all of our sheltering supplies delivered to the site easily and quickly. That was not the case in Honolulu. Our logistics coordinator for the mission called Home Depot and incredibly had every piece of kenneling equipment and fencing on the island transported to our emergency shelter within hours. We cleaned out the inventory of every pet store on the island and all three Home Depots and just barely had enough to build our shelter. In a matter of less than two days our shelter went from barren warehouse to the facility we would need to house the rescued animals..." More
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