Nice to tweet you!
As I find them, I’ll list pertinent #gustav, storm, weather twitter addresses:
I will be updating this post continuously throughout the next few day as I get ahold of more people at shelters to find out what they need!
Follow Best Friends Animal Society on Twitter! They are out there rescuing animals right now. www.twitter.com/bfas is their Twitter address.
ALso - so far Pasado Safe Haven is one of the main animal rescue groups I would focus on, and their links are below. They are going right out there and rescuing animals, they have a HUGE 600 acre farm that has been donated for animal triage, and they have some specific needs such as printers, ink, and laminated signs, as well as of course cash.
In times like these, pet lovers want to know what they can do to help. Often people volunteer to send food and supplies, but in all honesty, what most shelters will tell you is that what they need most are monetary donations to buy medical supplies, pay veterinarians, pay for temporary shelters for animals, pay for transportation - gas isn’t cheap these days! - and buy other needed supplies.
Even a small donation like $5 or $10 is very helpful.
I spoke to a volunteer at Utah-based Bestfriends.org, a group which has sent a team of volunteers with three thousand animal carriers to the affected region and is helping with the evacuation. They are very deserving of your support! You can donate to them HERE:
I also heard back from Ellen Gilmore, volunteer project coordinator for Bestfriends.Org, who told me that they don’t know what their needs will be at this point but she will talk to me after the storm.
Here are a few more links I’ve dug up so far:
The Louisiana State Animal Response Team
http://www.network.bestfriends.org/rapidresponse/news/
http://blog.petfinder.com/petfinder/hurricane-gustav/
http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/GUSTAV/Gustav_Home.htm
http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/DONATIONS/Donation_Form.htm
While twittering about the storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast (#Gustav), @TylerPatton @Dana_Willhoit and @conej determined, collaboratively, to help out. “What about those animals and pets that might be effected by this storm?”
What could be done?
The online discussion yielded a plan. While geographically in Florida, Texas and Canada, all the stars aligned and a ning group with Wordpress blog quickly appeared. All thanks to Tyler for making this happen so quickly!
So in just a few hours, from initial idea to getting all this set up, here’s a place “for pet owners to be able to communicate, post lost pet notices and find pet resources.”
