AEIofHI

Our Story

The Animal Education Initiative of Hawaii (AEIofHI) was created by a six year old named Kaitlin after the death of her puppy that was purchased from a pet shop, which later turned out to have been supplied by a puppy mill. The puppy contracted the parvo virus from the abhorrent living conditions in the puppy mill and fell ill only days after getting her. She was treated at the vet but ultimately succumbed to her illness within a week. Devastated, Kaitlin learned all she could about puppy mills, which eventually led her to fostering and volunteering with local rescues.

Upon seeing the numerous dogs in need for various reasons, she took it upon herself to build a program geared toward teaching kids how to properly take care of their pet to prevent them from ever needing to be rescued. Her program was picked up by a local dog rescue where she continued teaching for seven years, during which time she won an award, appeared on the news multiple times, and was featured in nationally distributed humane education magazines for her work on the program.

Kaitlin is now thirteen years old and has created the Animal Education Initiative of Hawaii so she can focus all her efforts on expanding her program and empowering others to make a positive impact in the lives of animals. She has been studying humane education, social emotional learning, and is a CPR instructor with the AED Institute of America. She has also attended a national humane education conference where she was awarded the Nathania Gartman Heroes Award from the Association of Professional Humane Educators for her work on the AEIofHI.