Hi Tiffany,
Thanks for posting, and I hope you are able to get some support.  I
just got back from my second rescue stint in New Orleans.  If you're
interested, you can see some pix and read a little about it on my
website: http://www.arete-communications.com
 
Part II mentions Jane Garrison's teams.
 
One thing your post tried to make clear is, there are not enough PEOPLE
to help.  People back home don't understand this.  They think they can
click a donation button and the help will get to where it's needed.  Yes,
ARNO and Muttshack and Best Friends and HumaneLA need help - but frankly,
with the exception of things like veterinary medicines and equipment,
blankets, potable water and gasoline, there are piles of supplies sitting
around and not enough people to actually get them to the animals.
 
Foster homes are also desperately needed.  Homes are needed to take
in not only Katrina survivors, but animals from shelters all over the
nation so they, in turn, can make room for Katrina survivors.
 
I don't know about the three squares and hot showers you mentioned,
unless they're at the National Guard setup at the Convention Center and
FEMA's shower trucks next to the river.  Jane's setup on Magazine Street
is a lot closer than the rescue site where I was, in east New Orleans.
I managed to get downtown only twice during my last week in NOLA.
 
If you actually have time to enjoy these amenities, you'll probably end
up choosing to use it help more animals instead.  You will meet people
who haven't slept in days, or who are sleeping just a few hours a night,
because the need is so great.
 
My site had 100 animals, including about 30 in trauma/ICU care, and only
four full-time volunteers plus one volunteer veterinarian.  Our workday
began at 6 a.m.  MAYBE three hours later I had time for some cereal or an
energy bar.  We worked until 8, 9 or 10 p.m.
 
Of the handful of volunteers I met down there, most were there for weeks,
even months, depleting their bank accounts (if they had one in the first
place), putting jobs, businesses and families aside.  There were people
from California, Canada, Alaska, Wisconsin, Washington, Boston.  You will
meet some wonderful and amazing people!!  You'll be nearly dead from
exhaustion but you will not want to go home.
 
Guess what - none of us feels like we did enough.  We're all having
nightmares.  We all are haunted by the animals we had to leave behind.
All of us would turn around in a second and go back, if only we could
afford it.  We're all thankful to be able to help a little, and save some
lives, but we're also a little bitter.  One question you'll have to deal
with is, why are a mere handful of volunteers going to NOLA from the far
corners of the continent, when so many thousands of people in the city
itself are doing absolutely squat?  Where are all the people in Jefferson
Parish, St Charles Parish, Mandeville, Baton Rouge, etc.???  Why are the
city, parish, state and federal governments doing nothing to help?  Why
are the parish and state governments actually putting up obstacles?
Where are the large animal organizations - HSUS, ASPCA, etc??  HSUS
alone got something like $18 million in donations for Katrina relief.
Where are they???!!
 
These are just some things you might want to prepare yourself for,
because you will be dealing with them in NOLA and after you get back
home.
 
Good luck to you, and god bless.  I wish I could go back too, and help
more.
 
Susann Thiel
New York
[Posted in FML issue 5073]