The mission of Noah’s Wish is straightforward: to save animals during disasters with our rescue and recovery services and to mitigate the impact of disasters on animals through our educational outreach programs. No other organization has made the commitment to focus solely on savings animal’s lives during disasters. As a result, Noah’s Wish is able to direct all of its resources to prevent the suffering and death of animals when disaster strikes, and to reunite animals with their owners or place them in a caring home. Noah’s Wish services are provided free to disaster victims and their animals, animal organizations and emergency management agencies.

 

In eight short years, Noah’s Wish has accomplished what no other organization has done.  From humble beginnings, Noah’s Wish has evolved a small group of dedicated volunteers, into a nationally recognized source of professional animal rescue, recovery and disaster education services.  In that time, Noah’s Wish responded to many disaster situations, but 2005 was a watershed year for the organization.   

 

2005 began quietly for Noah’s Wish, which facilitated its ongoing professional training program for volunteers.  During the first six months of the year, over 250 volunteers were professionally trained at sites in Massachusetts, South Carolina, Ohio, Washington, and Oklahoma.  During this timeframe, Noah’s Wish continued to stock supplies and materials and to reinforce its disaster response infrastructure.  However, 2005 was most notable for one major disaster response effort- Hurricane Katrina.

 

Hurricane Katrina

For Noah’s Wish, Hurricane Katrina was a defining moment, when it set up a temporary shelter in Slidell, Louisiana just 72 hours after the storm devastated the Gulf Coast.  Staff and volunteers worked tirelessly for nearly three months – logging more than 41,500 hours in an extraordinary effort to rescue and shelter animals left behind in the destruction.  As a result, 1,974 animals were successfully rescued and/or cared for, including cats, dogs, birds, and exotics. Remarkably, every animal rescued or received was either reunited with its owner (651 were reclaimed), placed into foster care, or adopted into a caring new home.  The massive animal rescue effort was made possible because of the help of 875 Noah’s Wish volunteers and respondents from across the United States and Canada, working alongside dedicated staff members from the Slidell Animal Control. 

 

In recognition of its efforts, Noah’s Wish was the proud recipient of the Lambert Kay and Arm and Hammer 2005 Shelter of the Year Award.  In presenting the award, Arm and Hammer representative Scott Harmon acknowledged:

“Noah’s Wish’s exemplary work during Hurricane Katrina made them stand out from the rest of the shelter candidates this year as they rescued and cared for almost 2,000 animals in a temporary shelter in Slidell, Louisiana and worked to reunite pets with their owners or find them loving new homes.”

 

Part of the Hurricane Katrina experience was the commitment of Noah’s Wish to help the community rebuild its city Animal Shelter destroyed during the flooding that followed the hurricane. In June of 2010 the new shelter opened its doors this facility is one of the best in the entire state. Noah’s Wish is proud to have been an active part of this event and wants to continue to show our support by selling commemorative bricks to line the walkways of the shelter. To accomplish this goal, we have launched the Brick Walkway project.

 

We are making available for purchase to our volunteers, friends and family engraved bricks in two sizes. The bricks come in either 4X8 or 8X8 inches. Each brick contains a message with your name sandblasted into it and placed along the shelter walkways. The wording on your brick can be:

a.       Three (3) lines on a 4x8 brick

b.      Six (6) lines on a 8x8 brick

 

Every brick and its message have a lifetime guaranteed to ensure its preservation. Won’t you help those innocent victims of disasters, the animals by purchasing a commemorative brick?