The Noahs Ark Tragedy

During the evening hours of March 7-8 1997, intruders broke into Noah's Ark , a no-kill, non-profit, cat and dog rescue shelter, for 'something fun to do on a weekend night'. At that time, seventy to seventy-five cats were awaiting new homes at the Fairfield, Iowa cat sanctuary, where they lived happily in a pleasant two-story house. The intruders viciously beat more than thirty of the resident cats of this loving sanctuary with baseball bats. A sanctuary where David and Laura Sykes, the founders and managers of this extraordinary shelter, had sacrificed and struggled to provide every comfort, necessity and luxury they could afford or manage to provide. Sixteen cats died of their injuries, another twelve were injured, three of them critically. Three cats were never found, and many of the cats were traumatized and afraid of human contact for many weeks afterward. A seventeenth cat, Thomas, died several months later from injuries sustained in the attack.