Disaster preparation and assistance for our communities pets.
During evacuations, families with pets are often faced with many difficult decisions.
There are countless issues that lead to a family making the very difficult decision to leave their beloved pets behind.
Some, unable to bare the thought of leaving a pet behind, decide instead to take the risk of staying, even in the face of extreme danger.
Cajun Catopia knows first hand how difficult and complex evacuations can be, especially when pets are involved.
Our goal with Operation Noah’s Bark, is to take some of the stress and worry out of that situation, by developing programs designed specifically with you and your pet(s) in mind.
Pet Shelter/Boarding Program:
We intend to add a separate facility to provide low to no cost shelter/boarding for both dogs and cats during times of evacuations and disasters (hurricane, tornado, fire, etc). This facility will be built specifically to withstand high hurricane force winds and flooding associated with storms that require evacuation.
This shelter will also be available year round, to serve as a temporary shelter (as space is available) for families in need for any situation, such as needing a safe place for their dog/cat while on vacation or while moving, etc.
Emergency Disaster Location Program:
With this program, we will develop a service for pet owners who do not wish to (or are unable to if we are at full capacity) board their pet during an evacuation. Pet owners who are not able to take their pets with them during an evacuation, will be able to pre-register for this service, giving us permission to physically go to your pets location and make sure pet is safe and secure, provide pet with food and water, etc.
We also intend to expand this service (as we are able) to include a pet ID/micro-chip program, to aid in the recovery of lost pets.
Emergency Disaster Food Program:
This program will provide food for pets in the Emergency Disaster Location Program, as well as provide free food to pets of families returning home from evacuations who are in need, during power outages, grocery/pet store closings, etc.
*Full program(s) details coming soon*
Want to help us reach our goals? Use the button below for donations designated specifically to Operation Noah’s Bark. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated!
*Special note: donations, memberships, sponsorships or gifts of any kind are not currently tax-deductible.
The addition of Operation Noah’s Bark, is a direct result of our personal experience during hurricane Gustav.
Having evacuated with a total of 8 cats and 7 dogs, it was necessary for us to return the moment emergency officials would allow. While we were gone, and dealing with the issues that come along with any animal being in a “strange” place, and also surrounded by other “strange” animals, it was quite apparent to us we needed a new plan for the future.
The day we returned (which was also the day right after the storm), it was also quite apparent to us, a more community wide plan was necessary as well.
Many homes were destroyed, and very few fences and outdoor enclosures survived the storm, which left countless cats and dogs roaming the streets, looking for food and shelter.
Homes, yards and enclosures that were not destroyed, faced the issue of being gone for longer than anticipated, which left many dogs and cats without fresh food and water.
Luckily, we had a large amount of extra pet food in our trunk (we stocked up for the evacuation, not sure ourselves how long we would be gone). We decided to drive around and feed as many dogs and cats as we could.
That drive, was one of the most heartbreaking drives I have ever been on in my life, but was also very rewarding to have been at least a small help to so many precious pets who needed it.
Below, is one of the first houses we stopped at:
This was their dog, who was very happy to get some food (luckily his enclosure was still intact):
Here, was a motor home, which appeared to also (before the storm) have an additional building of some sort next to it. In that building was a freezer. A dog was hiding behind the debris, (from the destroyed building). For food, the dog had pulled out packages of corn from the freezer. He did not come out for the dog food until after we drove away, but it did appear he was very thankful after we left.
This dog, was wandering the streets and unfortunately made some enemies of the neighbors, because for food, he decided 4 live chickens would be quite the tasty meal. One of the neighbors agreed to try to keep watch over him, and allowed us to fill up a bucket of food for him, to hopefully keep him away from the rest of the chickens.
There were many dogs like him wandering around, and most of them were terrified, running away as we pulled up, so we would simply leave food for them next to dog houses, under trees, or any place we could find that would hopefully not get wet.
Having community programs in place for future storms/disasters, will make it much easier for us to get fresh food and water to pets who need it.
