HONOLULU — State deputies have evicted six families from a Hawaiian homestead property in Waimanalo that was being used as a farm for abandoned animals.
HONOLULU — State deputies have evicted six families from a Hawaiian homestead property in Waimanalo that was being used as a farm for abandoned animals.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday there were about 100 animals on the property including turkeys, tortoises, a miniature bull and a pig.
The sanctuary takes in animals that pet owners no longer want, and has become an unofficial roadside zoo.
Brothers Nowlin and Weston Correa were locked out of the property but allowed to return Wednesday to retrieve belongings.
The eviction stems from a dispute between the Correas, who leased the land, and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, which owns the land.
The Correas lost their permit to lease the property in 2009, but didn’t leave.
In July, the brothers agreed to vacate the property by Sept. 25 but later reversed course and had been trying to fight the eviction. A hearing regarding a status update on the case is scheduled for Friday in Kaneohe District Court.
The Correas’ nephew, Claude Colton, stayed behind with the animals.
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands spokesman Punialoha Chee said in an email that the agency is giving the farm time to relocate livestock, but that it must eventually vacate the location. The department gave Colton an application for possible use of the land but explained to him that demand for land in Waimanalo is great, Chee said.
Marcie Nelson of Hawaii Kai said she passes the farm regularly while taking her son, Mason, 9, to school.
“It’s sad (if) the animals have to go,” she said, adding that her son enjoys seeing the animals as they drive by. “I always see people stopped here.”
Supporters have created a Facebook page to save the farm.