By Caitlin Wolfe
DouglasNow.com
In The Soul Watchers: Animals’ Quest to Awaken Humanity, Kim Shotola wrote, “Animals are a window to your soul and a doorway to your spiritual destiny. If you let them into your life and allow them to teach you, you will be better for it.”
While not Steadfast Wildlife Rescue Rehab’s official motto, it sums up the organization’s mission quite well. The non-profit is the area’s only licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility and it has been overwhelmed in the wake of Hurricane Idalia. Owned by Jessica Pisciotta, Steadfast received around 87 calls, texts, and messages between Wednesday, August 30 and Thursday, August 31 about injured and orphaned wildlife due to the severe weather. This brings Jessica’s number of animals in her current care to around 145.
Jessica’s end goal is to get these animals back into their natural habitat. With incredible damage and flooding from the hurricane, her job has become even more difficult. Due to a surge of incoming wildlife from the last couple of days, Jessica has run out of or is running extremely low on supplies that are needed to take care of these animals.
Steadfast is a non-profit organization and Jessica heavily relies on donations, both in terms of supplies and financial contributions, especially in a time like this. Oftentimes, she foots the bill out of her own pocket. Jessica states, “It isn’t only the supplies that the funds go to, but also gas for all the travels to transport, maintenance on my poor car that just keeps helping me save these animals, wildlife building payment, electricity, and water.”
Jessica has an Amazon wish list and also posts items that are needed on the Steadfast Wildlife Rescue Rehab Facebook page. You can follow the Facebook page to stay up to date with the latest rescues and needs of this organization. She also accepts donations from the major P2P payment networks. If you find an injured or orphaned animal, call Jessica at 229-646-6765.