Candy Lake, who operates the nonprofit shelter, would not reveal the identity of the rancher nor the location of the new site, saying only that ranch is in Waimanalo and the owner is elderly and wants to remain anonymous for now. Since the new site is on land controlled by the DLNR, Lake had to get approval for the offer, which was for one year.

The shelter could begin preparing the new site by Monday, fixing an old storage shed, building a structure to prepare meals and provide restrooms for volunteers, erecting fences and constructing enclosures for cats and pot-bellied pigs, Lake said.

Volunteers are being sought to move cats and help with construction.

Five dogs and numerous roosters under the foundation's care will go to another property, provided by a friend, Lake said, adding that she appreciates the rancher's offer.

"Here's a person that is so nice," she said. "It's not an easy thing to offer to help us. We're quite a force to reckon with."

The ranch, which she estimated to be about 15 acres, will allow the shelter to use a portion of the property that has not been in use for a while, Lake said. There's an old shed there but nothing else.

Once the facility is completed the animals will be moved, but she couldn't say how long that would take. Much depends on the volunteer help she has lined up, she said.

After settling in, Lake said the organization would raise money and seek grants in an effort to buy its own place where it can also conduct programs that involve animal care and agricultural activities for children.

People are still calling the shelter to leave their animals. Recently, the manager at the Weinberg Village in Waimanalo asked that she round up 20 to 30 cats that were being fed by a renter who had just moved out.

Throughout the ordeal of losing a home for the shelter, Lake also was dealing with the theft of her dog, Brown Dog. Despite an immediate call to police and identifying the thieves, the dog was never recovered.

In an attempt to lighten the burden of the shelter, Lake said she has tried to find foster care for some of the animals, but was unsuccessful.

"If we could have put them in foster care they would already be gone," she said. "We are the foster care."