Action 4 Animals Doggie Brigade

In September 2025, Chris joined the group of volunteer walkers that give the A4A dogs exercise and much needed time out of their kennels. Nearly every Monday and Wednesday he spends his time walking dogs, working with them on basic manners and leash work, teaching them new skills, guiding other fellow volunteers, and supervising playgroups. It gives an amazing opportunity to witness who these dogs can be when given just a few extra minutes to come down from the stress of life in a kennel. The pictures, videos, and feedback we are able to give the organization and to potential adopters is invaluable to the dogs' successes.

Building off of our experiences participating in the Hawaii Island Humane Society's "Field Trip For Shelter Dogs" program, we began taking the Action 4 Animals adoptable dogs out on the town for their own field trips! We've visited Volcanoes National Park, O.K. Farms, Just Cruisin' Coffee, Petco, Liliuokalani Gardens, and have even used our own property to allow the dogs to run around for the afternoon.

Meet Heidi, Luna, Maui, Rocky, Princess Lei'a, Cleo, Lilly, and Dahlia

As volunteers, we have helped handle dogs during Action 4 Animals' adoption events and even organized one on A4A's behalf during a family fun day at Kua O Ka La Charter School in Hilo.

During stressful times of the school year, Action 4 Animals partners with the University of Hawaii at Hilo to bring some of their dogs on campus to spend time with students and faculty. Chris was invited to attend some of these events to help handle the dogs, network with students and teachers, and help spread a nice a relaxed energy to get everyone through the semester. Sometimes, the dogs know just who to snuggle up to when they need it most. It would be hard to say who benefits more from an event like this, the dog or the people, but what we do know is that everyone's day gets just a bit brighter during those visits.

Meet Chloe, Coco, Matisse, Ohia, Cora, and Oreo

In May 2026, Chris was asked to represent Action 4 Animals along with two other volunteers at the National Best Friends Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a 3 day conference where all things animal rescue and welfare were discussed. While there, Chris networked with animal shelter professionals, promoted A4A's flyout program with the Southwest Airlines Animal Transport Team, and brought back strategies and ideas that were immediately implemented by the A4A Doggie Brigade. These immensely beneficial strategies covered shelter operations and protocols, fundraising and grant writing, transportation networking, and mental health awareness in the animal rescue profession.

In January 2026, we brought our foster dog at the time, Pacino, to participate in A4A's "Paws for Peace: Walk with Aloka". At that time, there was a group of Buddhist monks walking across the mainland US in an effort to promote peace. This walk was our community's effort to show solidarity to the monks' efforts, as well as give the A4A shelter dogs a great day out. Chris was tasked with organizing the pickup of all of the kenneled pups in order to get them to the event on time. And even though it rained hard on us during the walk, the vibes were still high and the dogs enjoyed themselves. There was even an article in the local news promoting the event!

In April 2026, we joined in on Action 4 Animals' Parade of Paws at Liliuokalani Gardens in Hilo. There to help was the Kea'au High School Canine Club and our volunteer community members. The dogs got to try their leash manners out in public, and the students got to learn new handling skills, all while promoting the dogs for adoption, providing much needed time out of their kennels, and giving the community a peak at what A4A does as an organization.

Meet Miss Hollywood, Princess Lei'a, Roman, Sassy, Beauty, and Akemi

On February 27, 2026, Chris was asked by Action 4 Animals to represent the Doggie Brigade at the "Let's Rein in the Cats and Dogs" Animal Welfare Summit. This was the first summit of its kind that held the entire county's animal welfare community in one place at the same time. This included rescue organizations for all animals, veterinarians, Animal Control staff, county police officers, county legislators and lawmakers, and the mayor's office - including the mayor himself. A short description of A4A's Doggie Brigade activities and achievements was presented by Chris alongside a panel of the county's leading animal rescue representatives. This was followed by questions from the mayor's office that were geared towards helping the community leaders better understand the uphill battle we face as shelter workers and volunteers.