'Mission mainland': 200 adoptable cats, kittens to fly from Hawaii to Seattle this weekend

Nearly 200 cats and kittens from the island of Kauai are ready to say "aloha" to new lives in Washington and beyond.

With the help of the nonprofit Wings of Rescue and jet charter Evojets, the Kauai Humane Society (KHS) is getting ready to pilot its first "Mission Mainland" flight from the island to Seattle with 200 adoptable cats and kittens onboard.

The shelter, which has accepted over 700 neonatal kittens this year alone is currently above capacity, is hoping to alleviate overcrowding and rehome some of the 400 cats currently in its care on the mainland.

"With the limited resident population in Kauai we must look beyond our island for positive outcomes for our animals," KHS Executive Director Nicole Crane said in a new release Monday. "Shelters are stressful places for animals that are waiting to find comfort in their new and loving homes."

A full list of adoptable cats can be found here, and potential adopters will need to sign up to adopt by Aug. 26. All of the transport costs are covered by KHS, and adopters will just need to be at Boeing Field on Aug. 29 with a cat carrier in tow to take home their new family member.

All of the adoptable cats have been spayed/neutered, microchipped and are also fully vaccinated. They have also been given a flea and tick preventative as well as dewormer, making them ready for their new homes.

KHS is also looking for other shelters and rescues in the Seattle area to place cats from the flight on their adoption floor or into foster homes to increase the chances of rehoming.

"Transferring animals to other rescues helps increase the chance our animals find new families quickly and we absolutely love seeing animals go directly into a home," Crane said.

This isn't the first time four-legged friends have come across the Pacific in search of their forever homes: over 600 pets arrived at Boeing Field from Hawaii last October as a result of overcrowded shelters amid the pandemic. The operation was one of the largest animal rescue flights in history, and the pets were rehomed throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada.