Hurricane Katrina animal relief - ways you can help

Here is a list of some groups that are helping:

•The Disaster Animal Response Team of Tampa Bay (DART) and the Society for the Protection of Animals in conjuction with Federal Wolf Dog Rescue, Lost Wolf Rescue and Dog Lovers: The Ultimate Dog Store are collecting pet relief items to be transported to the Gulf Coast.

Donations will be accepted through the end of this month, one shipment has already gone north.

All donations are tax deductible, forms are on-hand. Suggested items are: pet food (dog, cat, bird, horse), cat litter, collars, leashes, blankets, towels, sheets, metal crates and airline kennels (all sizes), bowls, muzzles and paper towels.

Dog Lovers: The Ultimate Dog Store, 14330 N. Dale Mabry, Tampa, contact Penny Midulla at (813) 962-8646, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

• The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Tampa Bay is collecting supplies. The SPCA and volunteers from the Disaster Animal Response Team are in Hattiesburg, Miss., to help displaced animals.

Needed supplies include medium and large crates, disposable rubber gloves, liquid hand soap, paper towels, garbage bags, canned puppy food, bleach, cat litter, scoops for litter, leashes, collars, harnesses, blankets, dish soap, cleaning supplies, brushes, food bowls and food for guinea pigs, mice and other pocket pets. For a complete list, go to www.spcatampabay.org.

Bring supplies or send checks designated for "Hurricane Katrina Relief" to SPCA Tampa Bay, 9099 130th Ave. N., Largo FL 33773-1441. For information, call (727) 586-3591.

• Emergency Animal Rescue Service is sending volunteers into disaster areas to help tend to lost and abandoned animals. It also is accepting donations. For information, go to www.uan.org.

• The Humane Society of United States Disaster Relief Fund's Animal Response Teams are working with state officials, federal agencies, and other organizations to evacuate animals out of the worst areas. They are preparing to establish pet-friendly shelters and deliver supplies, resources and medical assistance. To help, go to www.hsus.org.

• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is accepting donations to help hurricane-damaged communities rebuild their animal shelters. To make a donation, call (866) 275-3923.

• Best Friends Animal Society is reuniting people with pets that were lost or left behind during Hurricane Katrina. Call (435) 644-3965, Ext. 4455, or e-mail hurricane@bestfriends.org. To volunteer, go to www.bestfriends.org or call (435) 644-3965, Ext. 4242. To make a donation, call (435) 644-2001 and tell the operator you want to make a donation.

• The American Kennel Club its affiliated organization, AKC Companion Animal Recovery, is working with member and licensed clubs in hurricane-stricken states and the American Veterinary Medical Association to determine where shelters and staging areas will be established so that supplies and assistance can be provided. The AKC is shipping crates, exercise pens, and food and water bowls.

Dog clubs, shelters or individuals in need of assistance or that want to help, can call the AKC at (800) 252-7894.

Tax-deductible donations also may be sent to the AKC/CAR Canine Support and Relief Fund, American Kennel Club, 260 Madison Ave., Fourth Floor, New York NY 10016-2401

• North Shore Animal League America in Port Washington, N.Y., will transport animals from overcrowded shelters to its shelter. For details, call 1-877-472-3738 or see www.nsalamerica.org.

• Noah's Wish, a national organization dedicated to helping animals during disasters, has a rescue team in Louisiana. To learn how to help, go to www.noahswish. org.

• Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine's Animal Evacuation and Recovery Plan for New Orleans is accepting financial donations to support efforts to house, treat and feed displaced animals. To help, go to www.vetmed.lsu.edu.

• Alley Cat Allies, a national nonprofit clearinghouse for information on feral and stray cats, is working to help cats displaced by the hurricane. To help, go to www.alleycat.org.

I just don't get it - or "There but for God"...

I have said for years - for many events and situations "I just don't get it" and that seems to be my usual reaction to things that fall into the "how did they let that happen," otherwise known as "stupid tricks" catagory.

Florida residents know Hurricanes, so do the Gulf Coastal residents of Mississippi and Alabama - especially after 2004 when we were collectively battered by more than three hurricanes passing over Florida alone. Louisiana residents that I know remember Camille - but they weren't ready for Katrina.

Last year our fate was to have Charley cutting in from Punta Gorda - taking a surprising turn two hours before it was supposed to take Tampa to task. Francis coming in on the eastern side and slapping the state at an angle with a slow moving, rain generating cruise over the central portion of Florida - happily, of course - winding down to a Tropical Storm by the time it got to the midsection. And of course, there was Ivan who took a run up the Gulf and went into the panhandle. Jeanne - almost in Frances' path, alittle faster and again dropping down to TS level, however to again drench the midstate swamps, some of which came up into my property.

2005 Déjà vu

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/index.shtml. This site provided by NOAA is interesting to visit occasionally. Selecting a name of a specific storm - then clicking on the "graphics archive" will replay in a loop the track of that storm.

Dennis was a fair replay of Ivan.

Not that I can forget, but what do I remember of Katrina's march?

I watched via the Internet Weather Channel, videos of it going into the 'Gold Coast' of Florida; of watching Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel get slapped around in what should have been the calm eye of a weak Cat 1 hurricane [for the record: weak and hurricane don't go together].

Once it crossed over, praying for a continued drive to the west and going through our own personal hell worrying that it would turn. When when it was nearly level with Tampa and we were getting the squalls... I got a phone call from my sister who lives about three miles away saying, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling."

Watching it ramp up to an intensify of Cat 5 with 175 mile per hour winds, well... you didn't have to be a rocket scientist - all you had to do was watch the Weather Channel and NOAA and know that it was going to go pay a visit to the Gulf Coastal states that remember Ivan all too well. A jog one way or another is really moot... there was going to be catastrophic damage no matter where it hit. So where was the prep?

So... if a common Internet surfer could see that - mind, at work my desk is next to the weather guru so I am sensitive to the way things work - you would think that FEMA would have seen what was happening. The graphic above is brutally clear.

I was flat-out shocked by the Emergency Management guru for New Orleans talking about what he couldn't help if it did score a direct hit on NOLA.

I watched with horrified facination the non-changing storm track over the entire weekend... I even got up on Monday morning at 4 a.m. hoping that it would have turned more to the west, dropped in velocity, something. Not to be. And then, pouring insult on injury weeks later, Rita came to dinner...

I guess will never get to see the NOLA that I have always heard about... it will be rebuilt, but never be the one.