A No-Kill Shelter
 

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: THU 09/22/2005
Ark offers safe haven for animals after storm/ Evacuees find refuge for pets at local shelter
By KIM JACKSON
Staff

Hurricane Katrina evacuees Joe Lassier, 11, and his niece Hannah, 7, shot out of their car like lightning bolts last week to reunite with their dogs Sandy and Jacques, who are staying at the Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in Cypress.

Nearby, Quinn Brown, 13, and her mother Tanya walked Teddy, one of three dogs the family took with them when they fled their home in Metairie, La., just one day before the storm hit. The other two dogs are staying in friends' homes while the Browns bunk in a Katy hotel, but their two cats, Princess Lily and Tiger, keep Teddy company at Noah's Ark.

"I don't like Sandy being away from us, but I am glad she is safe here," said Joe, who is staying with his mother, Germaine and father, Charlie, in a hotel room on JFK Boulevard. "I try to come see her as much as I can."

Noah's Ark shelter director Heather Schmidt said the shelter has housed as many as 50 animals whose Louisiana owners are staying in hotels or shelters that do not allow pets.

"They have lost everything - this is the least we can do," Schmidt said. "They are trying to figure out their lives, what to do next, and don't want to give up their pets."

Germaine said the family's home in Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish is under water and they do not expect to see it again. They will relocate temporarily to a relative's home in Diamondhead, Miss., near Gulfport.

"We have lost everything, and we were so scared we were going to lose our dogs," Germaine said. "It hasn't really sunk in what has happened, and probably won't until we go back and see it."

Tanya Brown said her family felt the same about their pets. She said they were part of the family and there was no way they were going to leave them unprotected in their Metairie home.

"This place has been wonderful," Tanya said. "They have gone above and beyond the call of duty."

Schmidt said it was the shelter's duty to help the Gulf Coast's four-legged evacuees. Noah's Ark has been through rough waters in the past few years, but now is in an ideal position to reach out to animals in need, she said.

The shelter struggled to find a permanent home before landing a year ago in a 75-year-old homestead on five acres at 18430 K-Z Road, about two miles from the Cypress-Rosehill Road/U.S. 290 intersection.

The staff and volunteers at the shelter focus on rescuing, rehabilitating and finding homes for animals that were about to be euthanized at other shelters. Schmidt said every year they rescue more than 1,000 animals and place them in adoptive homes.

Those rescues were put on hold in October 2003 after Noah's Ark was evicted from a shopping center on Cypress North Houston Road. The year before the shelter was forced to leave a similar location on Jones Road when a neighboring veterinarian decided to expand her clinic into the shelter's space.

"It was hard to find a place that was large enough and did not bother neighbors, but this location is ideal," Schmidt said. "I keep pinching myself. I cannot believe we found this paradise. One door slammed and other one opened wide."

Schmidt and a shelter employee, Connie Mullins, live in the main house on the property. A third tenant rents out the home's upper floor. A detached garage has been transformed into the shelter's office, with space for cat cages, a medical supplies room and an area for animals undergoing special treatment.

A third building behind the house and office area has been transformed into a dog kennel with the help of local Eagle Scout, Christopher Diess, who is a Cy-Falls High School student. An arena will be used for rescued horses in the future, as well as a space for students to raise farm animals for Future Farmer of America projects.

Schmidt said Noah's Ark survives solely on donations.

"We have the knowledge and the place now," Schmidt said. "We just need volunteer help and funding."

HOW TO ADOPT

Details: Rescued dogs and cats are available for adoption at Noah's Ark, 18430 K-Z Road, Cypress, Texas, 77433. Call 281-351-6624 or visit the shelter's Web site at www.noahs-ark-sanctuary.org