Mission to Kirbyville

11:30 pm--(Im trying to post this myself like a big girl w/o my brilliant webmaster Madalyn Sklar so bear with me. Tired and computer illiterate. Perfect combo.) We spent the day traveling to theExotic Animal Refuge, delivering supplies FFL had purchased and helping some. The greeting from the exhausted folks there was so warm. They said that we were the only people who had been there with supplies since the storm! We wonder how that could be but are pleased that though Friends For Life is small, we were able to get there to help.

The sanctuary is located off the main road--actually almost off any road--and is home to about 25 big cats, 2 wolves, 2 bears , a monkey and numerous domestic cats. The big cat pens are fairly large and all contain 'tree houses' for the cats to climb up in. The tiger pens that were just redone pre-rita have great sculptured tiger swimming holes that slope gently from a wading depth to swim depth. Unfortunately, because there is no power there is no aerator and no running well water. The pool water is black and thick and the cats will not go in it. Anyone who knows cats would predict this. All the cats are panting and though none are down yet, some have started to refuse to eat. No one is more upset by this than the director , Monique and her staff. She and her crew have been awake almost non stop since the storm. They are clearing the huge trees from paths and rooftops trying to prevent any further damage. There are trees down on their buildings and on the animal pens. Fortunately , there are not now nor have there been any loose animals. We unloaded several 152 gallon coolers full of meat packed in 150 lbs. of dry ice. (I had to suck it up as a veg since 1985 when buying all that hundreds of pounds of dead chicken and pig--then traveling with it in the van. The things we do...Hope I can still get invited back on Go Vegan !), truckloads of vegetables/baked goods for bears, medical supplies, the generator, gas, water a chainsaw, electrical supplies and drinks for the folks working there. They are saving the water for the animals so not drinking it. They even drained the meltoff from our 'wet ice' coolers into a bucket not to waste any. They have one generator that is powering 2 freezers they have running so that they can store the meat for the big cats. There is not enough power in it to run an ac/fans for the big cats, bears in their wooly coats and the domestic cats currently housed in a trailer. These are things they are doing tonight--fitting the larger generator to hopefully power these things tonight. A blessing the weather cools tomorrow. C'mon Houston--we are 160 miles away. We can help these animals! These are our neighbors. We know that terrible things are happening in LA/MS--we've seen them firsthand and tried hard to help where we could. But there are animals right here that need us too. Whatever your opinion about animals in cages, wild animals kept by people (these are formerly abused rescue animals often owned/abused by boneheads who had no business with them in the first place) or exotics in Texas generally-(and I certainly have my own storm opinions not necessarily in line with that refuge)-the fact is that it is not the time to have a philosophical debate, for shelters to jockey for control or to sit in Houston and posture. It is time to load up a truck or contribute to a truck that is going or to write a check to someone doing something. The animals do not know that we have opinions about their circumstances or allegiances to different groups. This morning all they knew is that they were hungry and thirsty. Tonight they have had a good dinner but are still hot and thirsty. This is the soul of animal rescue; bowl by bowl, animal by animal. You can click from here and go to our paypal and help support the mission. Shameless plug for support of the FFL programs? You bet. We are proud of what we do and what we do it not cheap. As to the immediate needs at the refuge and our trip back tomorrow--water and a well pump (does not hurt to ask...someone out there has a well company and may want to help). Friends for Life will take truckloads of water back out there tomorrow morning. The caravan leaves at 10am. Tomorrow we will have a truck in the parking lot at the Petsmart @ Shepherd and Alabama from 8-9:30am. We will be accepting all donations of water to truck back in. Please come by and drop off a little. Hope to see you. Paypal. Volunteering. Donating supplies. If you like what we are doing, join the effort! We'd love to have you. Step by step--even small ones, we change everything. good night all, salise ** I have an update to add: As of Thursday the 29th as we are about to leave for Kirbyville again with our 2nd load of water and food, I have talked to Janice Blue who has coordinated getting the sanctuary another generator, more water and a well pump !!! Way to go !! She will be returning with our 2nd wave team on Saturday. Thank you Janice for all you do for the animals and for mobilizing your great animal lover network.

Katrina Rescue Update - PHOTOS!

12 person van FFL rented.

Decontaminating a New Orleans kitty.

Ladtbird the beagle after getting clean and fed.

Giving fluids in the FFL mobile hospital unit.

FFL loads more MS and LA supplies.

The Emergency Animal Rescue Volunteer team in the Jackson MS shelter after a very long day--just about to begin the night shift.

A dog pulled from East New Orleans.

Driving in New Orleans

Destruction in Pass Christian MS.

Completed pen with shade cover in MS.

Construction of a 36 dog pen in MS for rescue dogs.

Peedie

Peedie's house

Peedie

Peedie ready to get in the van!

We had to break window to save Peedie.

In a mobile animal hospital van in east New Orleans.

One of the areas in Pass Christian where FFL rescued cats.

Rescuing a feral cat in MS.

Vaccinating a decontaminated New Orleans poodle.

Stopping traffic to rescue the poodle in New Orleans.

These dogs are in the Pass Christian MS. They had a 37 ft. tidal surge and the rubble that was the shelter that housed them is apparent in the background. These folks had no power, water or medical care. They were left with their own shelter dogs as well as evacuee dogs brought to them. All structures on the property has been rendered unuseable--or unfindable.

Drs. Smith in the mobile uhaul hospital.

Dr. Smith examining a rescue dog now safe.

Jefferson Parish was one of the hardest hit.

The Humane Society there had evacuated and closed.

Katrina Rescue Update

PICTURES SOON--TONS OF 'EM--STAY TUNED

I am happy tp report some amazing rescues on our last trip to Mississippi and New Orleans. After Peedie, the rescues kept coming. We aquired two desperate, starved dogs in the muck on a central New Orleans freeway: Gumbo, an emaciated poodle mix and Lady Bird, a beagle mix in even more dire shape. It was so close to the Superdome you could throw a rock and hit it. The stench in the air and on the dogs pre decontamination was incredible. After the requisite time and attempts to find owners, we will place both for adoption. Right now, they are clean, safe and learing what it is like to be spoiled !

In answer to our request to join the FFL team, the wonderful Drs. Jeff and Claudia Smith drove in from Indiana and helped set up an FFL field hospital, treat the sick in Pass Christian at a free vet clinic we opened and we even loaned them to the Jackson County shelter where they were the only vets the hard-working but overwhelmed techs had seen in a very long time. They rescued a beautiful siamese mom cat and five 2 day old kittens that were strays at the shelter. The staff asked us them to get them to a better place. We did. They are safe and in a foster home. They will all ultimately be up for adoption.

We took emergency calls--one from a police officer who had thought his dog was lost in the storm but he wandered up 5 days after the storm. The beautiful German Shepherd had cuts on his feet that had become infected and the infection had become systemic. There simply were no vets in Pass Christian to take him to so he came to us. The dog received antibiotics and other treatment and is recovering very well.

We trapped several kittens in the rubble that are being tamed now by Donna, our resident cat whisperer (how kittens survived the storm is amazing to me). Thanks to the good work (and willingness to drive a long way late at night) of the PAWS rescue group in Monroe, we have also added to the roles of FFL Sheer Khan , the handsomest, jowliest tomcat ever and Stitch the plump ferret.

NEW MISSION:
Our rescue team leaves tomorow am for our 3rd mission. This time it is to answer the call for help from a big cat sanctuary (with bears too). They have no power or water and are running out of food as the meat for the big cats spoiled. The place is the Exotic Animal Refuge in Kirbyville. There was actually a piece on their plight on NPR tonight during All Things Considered.

I talked to the director, Monique today several times and she is completely overwhelmed. They have their own tigers, etc and now have Katrina evacuees too. They also have MANY domestic cats currently without a/c in a trailer that they are trying to cool by leaving the doors open (screened, I presume) and a fan hooked to a small generator. They lost power just before Rita made landfall--we were already having some major winds in the Beaumont area.
Monique says no other rescue has come in to help.

We have a 7500 watt generator to donate, gasoline, water, repair supplies, about 500 lbs of meat (ick), fruits/vegetables/breads for the bears, cases of fluids and medical help. We have four 152 quart coolers and 100 lbs of dry ice and have rented (again) the 12 person van and are taking our FFL trucks as well.

We will at the least, be able to help some by simply getting them some supplies. We are also going to help refitting cages, feeding, cleaning up post storm and generally doing what they need to improve things short term. At best, our medical team will be able to help any down animals--and Monique reports that there are some.

I don't know the folks there except by our phone conversations and their request for help.
I'll know more about what is there tomorrow and will post it on our website asap.

Anyone wanting to know more or to help support the mission please email me here --we welcome all help !

that's all for now. 4 am is freaking early.

salise

Katrina Rescue Update

Friday 09/16/05
New Orleans
2:50 PM

We got an urgent call for a dog named Peedie who has been locked in his house since the storm. His owner, an older gentleman, had no means to return and left him with a few days water & food. We were very worried about what we would find when we arrived.

With instructions on how to break in (photos of my breaking & entering were captured by a volunteer-will post when we return) I kicked in the front window……we heard Peedie bark as I crawled through the broken window and were met by a big slobbery Golden Retriever/Lab face!

He was ecstatic to see us and we were ecstatic to see him!!

Peedie has had a snack and a drink of water and Sarah is now walking him. He will be reunited with his owner when we get to the camp.

What a great first rescue of the trip.

The neighborhood is deserted and looks like a war zone. We have 6 or 7 more trapped animals in New Orleans @ the top of our urgent calls list. We will handle them one by one through the evening.

Later tonight we will head to Pass Christian, MS where we will set up the hospital and base camp.

I will call in updates from the field throughout our trip.

Katrina Rescue Update

Thursday
10:00 pm
Houston

The trucks are loaded and our stuff all packed. We continue to get updates that animals are dying and that in Pass Christian, the SMARTR shelter has become a bit of a central point for people to bring animals that need help. The staff there is hanging in, but will welcome some reinforcements. The original count of animals has grown some, but we understand is leveling off.
The latest is that FEMA has said they may allow the shelter and residents to stay on the land they already own if they can arrange to get a septic system put in. Not an insurmountable obstacle. Bids are being gathered, donations tallied and options explored.
For now, that makes our job easier as we can get more quickly to setting up the hospital and treating the sick without having to gather everyone up for a move by Monday.

The alarm will go off here at 4am and our away team will be on the road by 6. It is 398 miles from Houston to PC. Im getting emails as late as the last hour from team members who are trying frantically to book flights, arrange child care and appease spouses to join the FFL mission. The synergy is palpable and the team ever-growing.

To all of you who have joined the effort through this electronic community thank you. Your prayers, kind words, donations and offers of foster homes are deeply appreciated. As I write this, Muffin, my beautiful 15 yr old cat sits on the desk staring at me and trying not to fall asleep. She knows I am about to leave again. I look at her and see the ones who tonight are hungry, alone, sick or frightened. She and I know I must go.

One of my friends who helped load tonight gave me a card with this written inside:
"If I look at the masses, I will never act; if I look at one, I will." Mother Theresa

That is where our heads will be. The number of emails and stories about atrocities seems endless tonight and the problems seem overwhelming. It is easy at a time like this to get scattered and then paralyzed. But it is power to remember that in each animal is the whole world. In each kind act, the change ripples outward and nothing is the same. To all of you who say I can't do much-- a carrier, a small donation or a prayer--I have to tell you I believe every kind act is equally precious and equally powerful. Truth is, we can all do a lot. Nelson Mandela said the greatest human fear is not that we are powerless, it is that we are infinitely powerful.
Step by step, animal by animal, head down and focused we will make it better.

goodnight--talk soon,

salise

Katrina Rescue Update

Thursday
1:28p
Houston

We have had the most amazing outpouring of support for our mission. FFL staff, family, friends, volunteers, neighbors, adopters, passersby, animal rescuers all have brought so many wonderful supplies to add to what we purchased. Never doubt that fine people abound. We are very grateful. The foster homes add up. If you want to get on the list to foster or to volunteer with FFL, contact us through the site and tell us what you'd like to do.

This afternoon we will have the packing of the trucks (after one more trip to the target to get rubbermaid tubs with lids and zip loc and trash bags). Our house is staging area #1 and the away team and a multitude of home team volunteers will be here to load and pack to maximize the space.

The updates Im getting are that Noah's Wish did truck in some food to Pass Christian and that is wonderful--it gets it to the babies now and makes our transport easier. YAY !!

Just got off the phone with our vet, Dr. Claudia , who is driving in from Indianapolis to join our team. She is not just bringing heart and brain and skills, she's even bringing supplies--we just went over what we expect the priority needs to be and are, happily, on exactly the same page. She is juggling her life and kids to come to join the team and is hearing folks say --you're crazy ! Well, if she is, would that more of the world were.

We just learned that there is a 4pm curfew in Pass Christian and it is being described as a kind of military state. We will adjust everyone's travel/arrival plans accordingly. We also just learned that the shelter we are going to stop in first and stage in (Southern Mississippi Animal Rescue Team Refuge SMARTR) still has their own 150 or so animals but is now becoming something of a central aid point for other shelters/individuals to bring animals who need help. We will, depending upon the volume of incoming, set up two to three treatment tents. At this point, the big stuff is covered--generator, gas, tents, meds,food,h20--we are now emailing each other little items that we may have left out and trying to remember extra socks for ourselves --ok, maybe that's just me. The latest--Lynn, on the team from California just reminded me of trash bags and IV poles.

I'll check back in later this evening after get everything loaded and our away team meets to go through maps, itinerary checklists and supplies.

stay tuned.

salise

Katrina Rescue Update

Wednesday 10:30 pm
Houston

We are getting the most horrendous updates from the field in Mississippi you can imagine--that I could ever imagine. There are animals dying in rescuer's arms for want of fluids, basic care, water or food. Why Mississippi seems to have been forgotten is beyond the scope of my knowledge. What I do know is that there is no infrastructure and a lot of desperate people and animals. Even if Friends for Life can only reach a fraction, it is something we feel we must do.

Friends For Life is set up to leave here Fri at 6 am from Houston. We have a ton of food (cat /dog/pig/goat), h20, vaccines (dog/cat), medical supplies(fluids, first aid, panacur, albon, strongid, clavamox, amoxicillin, syringes, iv set up kits, benedryl, baytril, decon nolvasan, and much more in the medical dept), kennels, crates, an enormous generator, huge gazebo tents with flaps for housing cats, some for the hospital as well as sick/injured animals, a treatment table, and some huge gazebos with flaps to sleep people (each sleeps 9), gasoline, tie outs, 12x12 tarps for makeshift shade, coolers, people food, Polaroid camera/film to make records of all animals and medical history forms/storage to create up to date files and treatment sheets, collars, leashes and more.

We have the biggest van Ive ever seen--lord--a 12 seater I had them take all 3 rows of seat out of and are filling the cavernous inside. We also have two other trucks filled with supplies.
We are bringing a physician, a vet tech and an experienced animal handler. We plan to meet other volunteers there --including our wonderful veterinarian from Indianapolis. Make no mistake, we feel the hand of Dr. Anne in this quietly making it all work.
Thank you, Dr. Usuk.

We also arrive with a plan to attend first to the immediate needs of the SMARTR shelter animals in Pass Christian and fan out to Waveland, Bay St. Louis and remember the forgotten. We'll have direction from the folks there who know where the need is. We are in high spirits here and energized to help.
There is devastation, but there are powerful forces of good at work here. Be hopeful and keep up the energy and the network. Our national (and international) teamwork is making this happen.

More soon--

Salise Shuttlesworth JD
Executive Director
Friends For Life Animal Shelter and Sanctuary

Ongoing Rescue of Katrina Animals:

Welcome to the new Friends for Life Animal Shelter & Sanctuary blog. Check back often for Katrina rescue updates!