The jet-black animal was pregnant when she was found frightened and wandering near the highway by the sunflower fields. Emily was brought to the Leliani animal sanctuary in Haiku, and she gave birth to three healthy male kids Saturday.
“Instead of just walking around, people got to see a live birth,” said Laurelee Blanchard, founder and president of Leilani Farm Sanctuary. “After everything she’s been through, Emily’s peaceful delivery is a beautiful full-circle moment.”
According to Blanchard, good Samaritan Laura Sakamoto found Emily wandering by the highway while he was driving in Central Maui near the sunflower fields earlier this month.
Sakamoto pulled over and approached Emily. He could tell she was stranded, pregnant and frightened. However, Emily was approachable, leading those involved to believe she may have once been a pet or raised by humans.
Maui Humane Society Officer Emily Skidmore responded and removed the animal from nearby the Kuihelani Highway and brought her to safety.
When no one came forward to claim Emily, the sanctuary became her forever home, Blanchard said.
The tiny kids named Larry, Lucas and Lincoln were born inside a quiet barn filled with hay and straw at the sanctuary. The newborns are barely the size of cats, and they are doing well, as Emily is nursing her kids and keeping them close, according to sanctuary officials.
Blanchard said Emily and her kids are bonding in their own space at the sanctuary where they’ll remain together as a family. Once ready, they’ll join the rest of the goat herd on the sanctuary grounds, alongside chickens, pigs, deer and other animals.
“This is why our partnership with Leilani Farm Sanctuary is so critical,” said Nikki Russell, chief of operations at the Maui Humane Society. “Emily’s story could have ended very differently. Instead, she’s thriving and her babies are safe. This is the kind of outcome every animal deserves.”
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