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