In the bible, Noah saved two of every kind of animal on the earth by putting them on a big boat, but a modern day ark sits on 250 acres in Georgia. Animals need a sanctuary too, especially if they've been abused and tossed aside, and Noah's Ark welcomes them with open arms.
For Allison Hedgecoth, it's just another day at work. A tiger greets her, but it's not the only animal at Noah's Ark in Locust Grove.
"We have primates, wolves, bears, big cats. We have a lot of livestock, bison, cows, horses, just about any animal you can imagine, we have it here," said Hedgecoth
The animal sanctuary has more than a 1,000 animal, each with a unique story.
"Lightning and Thunder came to us when they were about eight weeks old. They were confiscated at the Atlanta airport and they were in a crate that said husky dog," explained Hedgecoth.
Noah's Ark takes in animals that have been abused, confiscated, neglected or even considered surplus animals by breeders. Doc the tiger is one example. His owners were hoping he'd be a white tiger.
"Only about one out of every four cats comes out white, so the rest to this facility were considered monetarily worthless," said Hedgecoth.
To those at Noah's Ark, no animal is worthless and that includes the primates.
"Shawn-Shawn is from Yerkes Research Institute. She is a Gibbons-Symang hybrid. They donated her to us because she's an accident. They didn't think Symangs and Gibbons could interbreed," said Hedgecoth.
Some of the breeds coexist peacefully in the same enclosure, like Leo (a lion), Shier-Kan (tiger) and Balou. They came malnourished and Balou the bear had to have a harness surgically removed. They are now doing great and typify the peace many animals have found at the sanctuary.
Noah's Ark is not just a sanctuary for animals, but for children also. More than 400 children have lived at Noah's Ark Children's Care Home since 1990. They've recently formed a special affiliation with Haiti in hopes of finding children there forever homes. For more information on how you can help their mission, click here!
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