this is an e-mail my assistant director received from Noah's Wish, an organization that is helping the animal victims of katrina.

We are operating in Slidell, Louisiana. Additional teams are being dispatched. Further sites of operation are anticipated. Communications are poor at best.

Right now, I can tell you that we can certainly use monetary donations which can be sent to the main office at PO Box 997, Placerville, CA 95667. Also, we always have a need and use for gift cards from the major national chains such as Walmart, Petsmart, Lowes, Petco, etc. The gift cards are used for the purchase of supplies and equipment as needed and they are provided for our field teams to enable them to make emergency “we need this RIGHT NOW” items for care of the animals.

We also have an ongoing need for any of the following items:

• batteries
  
• bolt cutters and cable/electrician’s ties
  
• break-away cat collars
• dog collars
  
• clip boards,
  
• spring clamps (extra large size)
  
• rewritable CD’s
  
• flash or jump drives
  
• collapsible wire cages
  
• new dog leashes and collars (we stress “new” because of concerns of cross-contamination from animal to animal)
  
• duct tape
  
• disposable ear plugs
  
• heavy duty extension cords
  
• grooming clippers
  
• FRS radios
  
• hand sanitizing gel
  
• heating pads
•  various office supplies
  
• Polaroid 600 cameras and film
  
• black and red Sharpie pens
  
• staplers and staples (not the office type – the type you find in the tool section of the stores)
  
• surgical and exam gloves
  
• gallon and larger size ziplock bags
  

There is no need to be concerned about food supplies as this is taken care of by the generosity of the pet food companies [that's great!]. If this need changes, I will post an alert. If your budget permits purchase of larger ticket items we will have the need for animal containment, rescue, and control equipment that we usually purchase through ACES (www.animal-care.com). This equipment can be purchased on line or over the phone by credit card and shipped to the address I will provide below. If you are interested in purchasing one of these items, please e-mail me first and I can let you know what we specifically are looking for, but for pricing considerations we will be looking at purchasing live-traps, EvacSaks, catch-poles, animal graspers, cat tongs, nets, and the specialty handling gloves. I am handling logistical and supply operations from the St. Louis, Missouri area. From this location we have the intact communications and transportation infrastructure to receive supplies. We can then dispatch the supplies and equipment as they are needed to the area with our volunteers transporting them down Interstate 55 as the volunteers are deployed in the area.

Please ship (or have shipped) your supplies or gift cards (REMEMBER MONETARY DONATIONS GO TO THE PLACERVILLE ADDRESS) to: Roger Smith c/o Noah’s Wish                        
                        8762 Klondike Road                        
                        Worden, IL 62097

Once again, I thank you for your support and generosity in helping us help the animals. If you have any questions or any ideas for a donation not covered above please feel free to e-mail me and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Best Wishes,
Roger D. Smith Regional Coordinator,
Noah’s Wish

you can find out more about noah's wish at their website.