The Wild at Heart Rescue Team
At Wild at Heart Rescue, our team is a family united by compassion and a shared mission to protect wildlife across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Each member brings unique skills and experience, from bottle feeding newborn raccoons to providing medical care and guiding the public through wildlife emergencies. Together, we are dedicated to giving every animal the chance to heal, to thrive, and to return to the wild.
Missy Dubbuisson
Founder & Director
Missy Dubuisson is the founder and director of Wild at Heart Rescue and she is internationally known as “The Possum Queen” for her unmatched expertise and dedication to rescuing and rehabilitating possums, especially orphaned babies. Wild at Heart Rescue takes in a wide variety of indigenous wildlife, except for deer and alligators, and its mission is to assist law enforcement officials and the public with any wildlife in distress. Missy’s focus is always on rehabilitating injured and orphaned animals, with the goal of releasing them back into the wild.
Her calling began early in life. Born with spina bifida, Missy faced physical limitations that prevented her from taking part in typical childhood activities. Instead, she spent her time searching for ill or injured animals that needed care, building them small shelters, and feeding them until they were strong enough to return to the wild. That passion never left her. In 2012, after decades as a permitted wildlife rehabilitator, she founded Wild at Heart Rescue to create a place where no animal in need would be turned away simply because it was unpopular, misunderstood, or challenging to care for.
Since then, Wild at Heart Rescue has grown into Mississippi’s largest wildlife rehabilitation center, with more than 60 permitted rehabilitators working together to cover multiple counties across the Gulf Coast. The team cares for thousands of sick, injured, and orphaned animals each year, relying entirely on donations and volunteers. Education is also central to Missy’s mission. She and her volunteers conduct public programs that teach people how to coexist with wildlife, safely help distressed animals, and replace fear with understanding.
Her tireless work has made her a hero to many, and her fearless determination has saved tens of thousands of animals that others might have given up on. Whether she is tube feeding a baby possum too small to survive on its own, coordinating a large-scale rescue, or teaching a crowd of children why raccoons are vital to the ecosystem, Missy leads with compassion, expertise, and an unshakable belief that every creature deserves a second chance.
Patrick Walker
President
Patrick Walker isn’t just the President of Wild at Heart Rescue. He is the steady hand, the tireless problem-solver, and the right arm of our founder, Missy. As her better half in life and in rescue, Patrick is involved in every step of the process, from saving an injured animal in the field to overseeing rehabilitation care to ensuring every healthy creature is safely released back into the wild where it belongs.
Patrick’s dedication to protecting life began long before Wild at Heart. After 24 years of distinguished service in law enforcement, he retired with a legacy of leadership, integrity, and community protection. Over the course of his career, he served with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, D’Iberville Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Bay St. Louis Police Department, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, and Gulfport Police. In each role, he honed his skills in security, crisis management, and public safety. He also brought those protective instincts to Ingalls Shipbuilding, where he managed surveillance operations and spearheaded safety initiatives.
Today, Patrick uses his combined experience in leadership, security, and hands-on problem-solving to help Wild at Heart Rescue thrive. Whether he is repairing an enclosure, transporting a rescued animal, or planning for the organization’s future, Patrick embodies the commitment, compassion, and grit it takes to protect Mississippi’s native wildlife.
Dr. James “CritterDr” Askew, DVM
Staff Veterinarian
For 22 years, Dr. James Askew has practiced veterinary medicine with one unwavering belief: “Compassion is the right of all creatures.” An exotic and wildlife veterinarian with patients across the country, he now proudly calls the Mississippi Gulf Coast home, bringing his expertise, quick wit, and endless heart to every animal he treats.
Known to many as CritterDr, Dr. Askew has a gift for making people and animals alike feel at ease. His staff and clients will tell you that laughter is always part of the prescription, and all species respond to the joy he brings into the room. No creature is too great or too small to benefit from his boundless love of life.
A true hero to local wildlife rehabilitators, Dr. Askew’s heart beats especially strong for Wild at Heart Rescue and its mission. He envisions a future where Wild at Heart becomes the first wildlife medicine rehabilitation franchise, expanding its reach to treat animals across the globe - breaking down borders, increasing efficiency, and saving more lives than ever before.
Welcome to the world of Dr. James Askew - a real animal and wildlife hero, one smile, one laugh, and one rescued life at a time. 🐾
Judy Roe
Raccoon Team Leader & Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist
On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Judy Rowe’s days often begin before sunrise. In the quiet light of early morning, the rustle of tiny paws and the curious chirps of orphaned raccoons serve as her alarm clock. As the Raccoon Team Leader at Wild at Heart, Judy may be bottle-feeding newborn kits, caring for an animal recovering from a neurological injury, or preparing a healthy raccoon for release back into the wild. For Judy, this is more than work. It is a calling that has shaped nearly three decades of her life.
Her journey into animal care began in veterinary clinics where she worked alongside local veterinarians in her Mississippi community. There she gained the medical skills and hands-on experience that laid the foundation for her career. Her dedication to both animals and people extended far beyond the clinic. For 15 years, Judy served in search and rescue, first with Gulf Coast Search and Rescue and later with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. As a certified canine handler, she worked with live-search and cadaver dogs in some of the most challenging and heartbreaking missions imaginable. One of her most demanding deployments came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the Mississippi Gulf Coast lay in ruins. In that landscape of devastation, Judy and her canine partners searched tirelessly for the missing and brought answers to grieving families.
Eventually, Judy’s focus returned fully to wildlife rehabilitation, particularly to the species that had captured her heart: raccoons. Each year she takes in as many as 30, most of them orphaned babies or injured adults. Her work is both tender and technical. She raises fragile kits until they are strong enough to survive in the wild and provides treatment for raccoons with neurological damage until they can once again walk, climb, and forage.
Judy’s reach extends far beyond the Gulf Coast. Across the country, she has become a trusted lifeline for people who discover lost, injured, or orphaned raccoons. Through phone calls, online networking, and decades of connections, she guides them to licensed wildlife rehabilitators, ensuring that no animal’s fate is left to chance.
Whether she is tracking through the woods with a search dog, coaxing a wobbly raccoon back to its feet, or helping a stranger hundreds of miles away find emergency wildlife care, Judy approaches every mission with quiet determination. To her, every life, whether wild or domestic, deserves a chance to heal, to be safe, and, whenever possible, to go home.
