PLP - Urgent need for Napa, Sonoma, Solano counties

Peace, Love, & Pets is on stand-by this evening to take volunteers up into the
flooded Sonoma/Napa County areas and assist with animal needs tomorrow. (Mon. Jan 2)

we expect to have volunteers assist with

- home to animal head-count and get an actual account for all animals.

- transport extra food to homes and areas where food may have been damaged

- assess any additional needs and compile a "database of assistance" for this area.

- shelter and clinic clean up

- feral cat colony assessment

A few shelters and Vet clinics were damaged from the flooding.
We will find out by 9 am tomorrow morning their needs and extent of damage.
I feel its in our best interests to help these organizations to get back up and running as soon as possible.

Let us start off the New Year by extending ourselves to those in need.

Please CALL throughout this evening and tomorrow to join the teams in the field.

650 773 3813

We anticipate assembling teams and areas tomorrow by 10 am, but you may
join us in the field later in the day... we may need ALL the HELP we can get.

Expect a full day - till night fall/ 5 pm or so.

We will know more of what items you will need to bring with you by 9 am... I will send an email or call you with vital info.

Thank you ALL very much!

I have missed all of you and have yet to give you an update of my New Orleans experiences...it's been hard to put into words, and yes... there are still animals out there ALIVE!


Colleen & Gary
Peace, Love, & Pets

The rescue's continue as animals are found in dire conditions!

This is an email I received upon getting our last delivery of items ready to load and ship to New Orleans.
This is the group we are currently assisting and updates like these help us reallise, we are working in the midst of heroes.

Update Jane Garrison 10/27/05

These rescues inspire us and are the reason we do what we do:

1. We received a call from a construction worker on Tuesday afternoon that they found a cat alive in a house they just opened to do construction. We quickly sent a rescuer to the house and found a sweet cat in critical care.
Silver was laying in her own urine too weak to even stand. Although she had a collar on with her guardians phone number (they were not living back at the destroyed house yet) the phone was not working. I tracked down the guardian by calling the construction company. He was shocked to say the least. They thought the cat must have escaped yet she was trapped inside the house for the past two months. He told me they had left enough food for about a week and a big bowl of water but that was on the 1st floor that ended up completely under water. Again we ask...how did she survive? AN incredible will to live. Silver is still in the hospital hoping to recover...

2. We received a call from a neighbor about a dog who had been left in an apartment. The neighbor had returned to the apartment building 3 times in the past 2 months and left a small bowl of food each time. She said that no one in the building is coming back and this was the last day she would be there. When we went to get the dog we found a terrified, skinny, dehydrated Chihuahua, hiding under the covers.

3. While rescuing the above dog our rescuers started hearing a meow. They could not find where it was coming from until they pulled down the attic stairs and found a starving tabby cat up there.

5. Just 1 hour a ago we received a call from a worker that a cat was meowing from an attic. When our rescuer quickly got to the house she could not see where the cat was. The owners of the house had retuned today and said they heard meowing but did not think it was their cat and they could not find the cat. Our amazing rescuer pulled up the floor in the attic and found Tiger wedged between the insulation and the wood. Tiger is on the way to the animal hospital as I write this update.

6. It is always nice to rescue an animal and reunite them with their guardian. Yesterday we trapped a cat who was extremely thin and dehydrated
(this was in a part of New Orleans that is completely devastated and will be bulldozed). The cat was as sweet as could be so we just knew that she had been loved. I looked in our data base to see if anyone on that street had reported a cat trapped or missing. When I called the person who lived close to where we trapped the cat, I was informed that those people had found their cats but the 84 year old woman who lived next door was so sick about losing her cat that she is now in ICU in Baton Rouge. When I asked her to describe her cat I quickly said "we got her!". The neighbor was so excited and immediately called the elderly woman to give her the great news!

PLP - PETS THROWN IN TRASH! Still finding them alive?!

The one thing that we have ALWAYS said once we started this donation drive was...“we will be there for them in the long run”. It is sad that following disaster. the media and public attention can only stay focused long enough for maybe 3 – 4 weeks following, I’ve seen it too many times with other hurricanes. We could tell from the sheer numbers of animals needing assistance that we would have to be dedicated for the long haul.

While we had taken a week or so to regroup, & rest (and ugh have surgery) we had heard most groups were pulling out of the gulf area or were well covered with supplies… but again, with the numbers of animals it wasn’t adding up. Then we received these notices over the past week
-------
Unbelievably, we rescued 2 more animals from inside homes yesterday (2 separate homes). Both of these animals were found alive in the attics of the houses...both completely skin and bones but alive and THRILLED to see our rescuers! As this point, we have about 600 addresses still on our list. This is the list of people who asked for their animals to be rescued. We believe that at least half of these addresses can be eliminated by calling the people prior to going to their homes to see if they have already gotten back into New Orleans or had someone else rescue their animals. All remaining addresses must be visited to see if there are still animals alive. We owe that to the animals that may still be alive inside those homes.
-------
We rescued a dog last night that was put out with the trash from her house!
Reportedly, the people came home to clean out their house and the dog was in critical condition...skin and bones, could not stand, sores all over her
body, etc.. They put her out on the sidewalk with the trash! Thankfully a
neighbor saw the whole thing and called us.
Needless to say we have the media at the vet clinic right now and we will
pursue cruelty charges. – Jane Garrison
-----------
Therein… our task is not over…
We have been asked to send all that we have remaining in our warehouse as well as a number of items we desperately need to replenish.

NEEDS:
Large jugs of water
Lasagna/Turkey pans
Vet Supplies:
Griseofulvin(ringworm meds)
Chlorhexidine shampoo (ringworm shampoo)

PLEASE….
There are a number of you that have been unbelievable donors, Steve in Fremont. Lisa at Half Moon Bay Feed, Cheryl who has purchased & delivered all the loads over the hill, Raquel & sis, Emma, Patti Wright, Kat, Carla, Shelley, Nancy, Suzanne, Rebecca, Betty, Sue, Anne, Mary & Nidhi… I know there are more o you… about 200 to be exact… but we need to get these particular items together within the next few days. I will be ordering a smaller truck for delivery to this group still “in the trenches”.
Our delivery will include what remains of our food storage as well as large donations from the Peninsula Humane Society and Super Pets in Santa Rosa.
Plus what we can purchase from gift certificates from donors Suzanna Schick, Gretchen Moll, & D. Shapiro.
Our inventory of large transport crates, towels, blankets & misc. items will almost clean out our warehouse.
(Please we do not need anymore of these items – only what is listed in NEEDS)
Our GPS unit that we purchased is now going to assist this group in finding more homes with animals… please don’t roll your eyes and think this is impossible, these folks are proving it’s not, they deserve our time, assistance, and attention.

VOLUNTEERS
We will need volunteers at the San Carlos Warehouse location over the next few days…
Mon. Oct 24 – evening
Tues - anytime
Weds - tba
Please contact Rebecca at - rebeccaplp@sbcglobal.net to get on our volunteer grid.
Warehouse: 595 Quarry Road, San Carlos, CA 94070 – 650 773-3813 (colleen)

Donations
$$$$$ - We are anticipating outside groups to assist in sending this last truck, but we still need a monetary assistance on our own for these last few months of operation. Please send folks to our Paypal button at www.peacelovepets.com
Or get yourself or a fellow animal advocate a gift at http://www.cafepress.com/peacelovepets

Thank you for all your assistance so far… lets all give this last meaningful push together!
Colleen & Gary
www.peacelovepets.com

PLP - Throwing Pets in the TRASH!!!! WE have to do something!

The one thing that we have ALWAYS said once we started this donation drive was...“we will be there for them in the long run”. It is sad that following disaster. the media and public attention can only stay focused long enough for maybe 3 – 4 weeks following, I’ve seen it too many times with other hurricanes. We could tell from the sheer numbers of animals needing assistance that we would have to be dedicated for the long haul.

While we had taken a week or so to regroup, & rest (and ugh have surgery) we had heard most groups were pulling out of the gulf area or were well covered with supplies… but again, with the numbers of animals it wasn’t adding up. Then we received these notices over the past week
-------
Unbelievably, we rescued 2 more animals from inside homes yesterday (2 separate homes). Both of these animals were found alive in the attics of the houses...both completely skin and bones but alive and THRILLED to see our rescuers! As this point, we have about 600 addresses still on our list. This is the list of people who asked for their animals to be rescued. We believe that at least half of these addresses can be eliminated by calling the people prior to going to their homes to see if they have already gotten back into New Orleans or had someone else rescue their animals. All remaining addresses must be visited to see if there are still animals alive. We owe that to the animals that may still be alive inside those homes.
-------
We rescued a dog last night that was put out with the trash from her house!
Reportedly, the people came home to clean out their house and the dog was in critical condition...skin and bones, could not stand, sores all over her
body, etc.. They put her out on the sidewalk with the trash! Thankfully a
neighbor saw the whole thing and called us.
Needless to say we have the media at the vet clinic right now and we will
pursue cruelty charges. – Jane Garrison

Therein… our task is not over…
We have been asked to send all that we have remaining in our warehouse as well as a number of items we desperately need to replenish.

NEEDS:
Large jugs of water
Lasagna/Turkey pans
Vet Supplies:
Griseofulvin(ringworm meds)
Chlorhexidine shampoo (ringworm shampoo)

PLEASE….
There are a number of you that have been unbelievable donors, Steve in Fremont. Lisa at Half Moon Bay Feed, Cheryl who has purchased & delivered all the loads over the hill, Raquel & sis, Emma, Patti Wright, Kat, Carla, Shelley, Nancy, Suzanne, Rebecca, Betty, Sue, Anne, Mary & Nidhi… I know there are more o you… about 200 to be exact… but we need to get these particular items together within the next few days. I will be ordering a smaller truck for delivery to this group still “in the trenches”.
Our delivery will include what remains of our food storage as well as large donations from the Peninsula Humane Society and Super Pets in Santa Rosa.
Plus what we can purchase from gift certificates from donors Suzanna Schick, Gretchen Moll, & D. Shapiro.
Our inventory of large transport crates, towels, blankets & misc. items will almost clean out our warehouse.
(Please we do not need anymore of these items – only what is listed in NEEDS)
Our GPS unit that we purchased is now going to assist this group in finding more homes with animals… please don’t roll your eyes and think this is impossible, these folks are proving it’s not, they deserve our time, assistance, and attention.

VOLUNTEERS
We will need volunteers at the San Carlos Warehouse location over the next few days…
Mon. Oct 24 – evening
Tues - anytime
Weds - tba
Please contact Rebecca at - rebeccaplp@sbcglobal.net to get on our volunteer grid.
Warehouse: 595 Quarry Road, San Carlos, CA 94070 – 650 773-3813 (colleen)

Donations
$$$$$ - We are anticipating outside groups to assist in sending this last truck, but we still need a monetary assistance on our own for these last few months of operation. Please send folks to our Paypal button at www.peacelovepets.com
Or get yourself or a fellow animal advocate a gift at http://www.cafepress.com/peacelovepets

Thank you for all your assistance so far… lets all give this last meaningful push together!
Colleen & Gary
www.peacelovepets.com

PLP - Trucks, Planes.. and shoulder strains!

Wow.. It seems like it’s been so long since my last update…

Our last truck –
While we went through so much trouble, this last load did not deliver without it’s own problems … for some reason, Houston SPCA turned away our shipment – after our repeated conversations that is was a small shipment, and if they did not need it, they were set up to be a distribution center for the smaller rescue groups in the area and would gladly help out. They confirmed Thursday that they would take the load.
Evidently this was a bold-faced lie. Our truck driver took it upon himself to make ‘executive decisions” along the way which proved to cause many more problems for us.
When Brian Cesar at Houston SPCA, had our driver begin to hand unload the trailer, he evidently walked away, made a phone call, came back and told him they did not want the load. We are not sure how he determined this due to the fact that EVERY PALLET was tarped, covered, and wrapped – you could NOT SEE what the loads contents were to make that decision. The next mistake was our driver’s… who took Brian as the authority, loaded up and drove off – only to call me an hour later that he did not drop the load. It was too late for me to react or follow up with Houston as to why.

- Why is this an issue? Since Saturday when Houston turned away the load, I have been contacted by 3 shelters in a 50-mile radius from Houston that are in DIRE need of food and supplies. Everything has been cut off from them to assist continued efforts in LA and the Houston SPCA, has evidently NEVER helped these groups. They actually chuckled when I told them that was our arrangement with them. Three key member$ of their board and donor$ have been apprised of the issue… they are investigating further.

Other problems snowballed after that…

HOWEVER.. GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE LOAD!
All of what was to go to Houston ended up at Abbeville, LA to be shared with relief efforts in New Iberia as well. They were VERY thankful to get the larger than expected delivery, and were so impressed with the organization of the pallets, the packing and the FULL spectrum of supplies we provided. It was so easy for them to just set the boxes out as we did what we were sorting… and let folks come up and get what they needed- as needed.
But here’s the BEST part! When we prepared this load 2 weeks ago, the airlift in Santa Cruz by Doris Day had not even come to fruition. We had so many travel crates; we decided to throw a pallet full of them on this shipment for good measure. Well, ALL of those crates arrived in Abbeville Saturday night – were unpacked and assembled right away, filled with cats and dogs, and loaded back on a DC 3 that landed at the Monterey airport late Monday evening. 98 dogs and cats some doubled up, most with ringworm, and ALL new residents of California.
Wow a materialized version of Karma, how cool! Everyone should be proud of his or her hard work!

The Doris Day/ Santa Cruz SPCA airlift.

My self and 5 other volunteers met at the warehouse and loaded up all of our vehicles with items for the newly reopened facilities at the Santa Cruz SPCA, they seemed in need of everything. (Special thanks to Anne, Mary, Betty, Sue, and Martha)
Then 4 of us met up with 3 other volunteers at the Sc SPCA to clean, prep and organize as much as we could to receive all these animals coming in a matter of hours. Betty, Rebecca, & Sue headed up the cleaning and prep of the cat house. Martha took care of needs in the dog kennels. Rene and I (along with her awesome kids) unloaded the cars, tried to organize things, set up food and medical supplies, and Kathy took control of the power issue (the power went out in the midst of all of this and we were working in the dark) ran out right away, bought lanterns, and came back to get dog kennels ready – fast and furious.

The flight was behind schedule a bit and due to arrive in Watsonville around 9 pm. It then could not land due to fog and was diverted to Monterey airport. Around midnight, 90 something animals were being hastily unloaded onto the Monterey tarmac amid cheers and tears. A group of happy pups headed north to humane society of Silicon Valley, and the rest came back to us at the SC SPCA. We all stayed till 3 a.m. taking in all these animals, giving them some relief from a 20-hour flight, and watching them happily take to California soil. Our volunteers were amazing and I cannot merely commend them enough myself. Thanks to you, amazing Ladies!
We also commend Lisa Carter and her kennel manager Jennifer, as well as ALL the SPCA volunteers (Adam, Nancy and a few other I have misplaced names) They have taken on a HUGE task and are being driven by pure compassion for these animals. It was Lisa who picked up the phone and got the ball rolling for this effort, as she said to me at 2:30 am-- "can you believe we really did this?!"

After all we have accomplished , I believe ANYTHING is possible.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED at Santa Cruz SPCA.
If any of you have shelter experience, please take some time to head down the Santa Cruz SPCA (www.santacruzspca.org) - call before you go though, a number of the animals have been sent out for ringworm treatment and to be spayed/neutered. So there may not be much to do. PLEASE be aware that most of the animals have ringworm… please wear gloves and was thoroughly when finished handling the animals as to not bring it home.

WHO WE'VE HELPED...
Please check out this video of a dog rescue… feel good about this and yet ENRAGED about the continued lack of effort on the LA SPCA/HSUS with regard to halting the rescue effort – this is video shot by Eric Rice, he is the guy we sent the GPS unit to so that he could locate these animals.
www.donrudolph.net/movie.wmv

Events
Stay tuned for a GREAT fundraiser and party we are planning with Alexandra Sangmeister of the SF Zoo. She has orchestrated a fete at the Dragon Bar in North Beach on November 10th. I’ll keep you all up on the details as they come.

Café Press Items!
We are getting GREAT response from our Rescuer Pillows… please check them out and contact me regarding an order. I am still working on an additional website dedicated just the pillows. Stay tuned (I am SO TV… sorry)

I AM OUTTA COMMISSION
Tomorrow, Fri 14th I go in for shoulder surgery from an injury sustained during a motorcycle accident last year. (Left hand illegal turned forced me to slide my Ducati 17 feet into and SF intersection) I will be out of commission for a bit and will be a “one hand typist" for a while, so bear with me on any slow response I may have to your inquiries or updates. Our efforts are continuing, I just need to slow down for a while.

Thank you ALL!
Colleen

An Update from Milo Foundation...

Dear Friends,

Hi, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for your contributions and donations!

(We worked late into the night loading up!)
Well, the most recent of three Milo Rescue Teams in the field, (Kimberly Long, Ann Kingsbury, Jenny Test, Emily Brown), made it to Louisiana in record time, leaving at 9:00pm Friday night, driving straight through they landed in Mandeville, LA about 11:00pm Sunday night. Not without mishap...There was a little collision with a metal pole at a gas station before they even left town (that pretty much ate up the $500 deductible); and then there was the ittle faux pas from the rental company sending them out with half the proper air pressure in the tires, which they didn't discover until Kingman,
Arizona (gee, these RV's sure handle sloppy and suck up the fuel); the lights in the storage area of the vehicle didn't work, same for the
dashboard lights (co-pilot handles the flashlight); and the little dining
table that converts to a bed broke the first night (now prompted up with two coolers). But heaven and earth smiled favorably on them nonetheless and they got there safe and sound.

In Mandeville they hooked up with a woman who owns a kennel, Kendra, who became the default rescue shelter in her area after Katrina hit. Now it should also be noted that not only did her family home get destroyed, but she is right in the middle of serious cancer chemotherapy--despite all of that she is taking in animals, and is out in the pens daily caring for the lost and abandoned. Her simple response "What else you gonna do? I can't imagine doing anything else!". Our team spent two days with her helping get
her place in shape, cleaning pens and caring for animals, and processing a mountain of donated materials she had received.

On Tuesday, Kendra, the Mandeville "saint" led our team into New Orleans. She finagled them all through military check points--getting them through when the military wasn't letting anyone else through. They drove the RV into New Orleans to a school that has been converted into a makeshift rescue/triage center for animals. The facility is located literally at the edge of the levee next to Lake Ponchatraine, and is headed up by a group called MuttShack. There they have a "camp" on the school grounds where there are about 45 volunteers from all over the country working in this center. They can park the RV there safely, and there are tents for the volunteers.
Mostly there are lots of animals that need tending to.

They rise at 6:00am and spend two hours cleaning pens, feeding and walking crews go out into the streets to find animals, while base camp crews process animals and/or continue daily care of animals. There is a crew of vet techs and vet students who handle initial intake, triage, and clean up. Then the other volunteers handle the animals once they have gone through intake care.

They tell me they walk dogs all day long, hiking up about 25 steps to the top of the levee, along the levee top with a beautiful view of the lake on one side, and the remains of the City on the other. The heat is in the high 90's and it is taking it's toll.

On Tuesday they were surprised to find most of the animals in the center looked pretty good. But those were the ones that had come in from roaming the streets (eating what ever they could find--you may not want to know). But today, Wednesday, the picture changed--it is the first day of officially letting people back into the City at large, and the animals coming in today are ones that have been found in buildings, abandoned since the initial flood...4 weeks ago. They are emaciated and broken. Today was a hard day for everyone....but as they say "that is what we are here to do", and then again
"What else you gonna do? I can't imagine doing anything else!"

The team plans to stay at the New Orleans center until Friday, then drive back up to Mandeville to spend the night with the "saint", pick up some animals from her place to transport out to the Bay Area. They will start to drive back on Saturday, and are planning to be back in the Bay Area by Monday.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to email or call me. I am currently in the process of contacting and securing foster homes for the dogs that are coming back with our teams. We have openings for 8 foster homes for dogs coming in this Thursday, and I don't yet know how many we will have coming in on Monday. However, if you know of people that would make good foster homes please have them contact me ASAP!

I will keep you updated!

In closing, let me invoke the name of a very successful donation drive based
here in the Bay Area, created by Colleen Kessler and Gary
Schick, as the closing salutation...

Peace, Love, & Pets!



Michael Allaire
mallaire@pacbell.net

Good Evening from Peace, Love, & Pets.

I have had some trouble in putting this email together, that is why you are getting it later into the weekend.

It seems our "other" truck that was GUARANTEED – as the broker stated "You WILL have a truck in the morning, all the paperwork is done and it is ready to go…." Somehow the truck "blew it’s transmission" leaving Roseville on Friday morning, on it’s way to our warehouse.
With so many cancellations and obstacles we have been facing getting items there now, I have become increasingly skeptical, as are a lot of people.
Friday we spent the entire day & into the evening calling EVERY trucking company we could find, no one could/would/or was interested in taking our load… at least not interested in doing it for around the standard price. No one likes to be in a desperate position and have to give in to gauged prices, but I need to let all of you know, donors & volunteers alike, it looks like we are going to have to give in. This is not something I am comfortable with, but I digress.

The other side of this is that we have people depending on us in the Gulf Coast that I have given my word that we will get this WAREHOUSE of items to them, hell or high water – no pun intended. I sadly had to make the call that it would not be there as scheduled and we were diligently working at getting it there as soon as possible. So much has happened to these people, for instance, Marilyn from New Iberia put it this way… "When you walk into your house, stop a minute and look to the left… see all that stuff there? Now look to your right, probably a couch or kitchen. Then look straight ahead of you and take in all your furniture, your family photos, your electronics… now close your eyes and it’s ALL GONE… all of it. "

These folks are running on empty, and yet, they have been so used to that level right now, that our shipment getting delayed a few days, a week seemed quite trivial to them.
Please note my blog – The High Price of Helping –
http://peacelovepets.blogspot.com/2005/10/high-price-of-helping.html

- Also I believe I owe some clarification. In my earlier update I noted that a group from Milo foundation came to the warehouse and loaded up a TRUCKLOAD to take to Mandiville, La. This literally was a "pick-up" truck. Mind you, they loaded the WHOLE thing up, but it was not the truck we had anticipated. Sorry for the confusion.

Okay… after all that… I have some GOOD NEWS!!!
We have established a storefront with CafePress.com and are selling items to raise additional funds. One particular item that we are excited about is something we are about to get A LOT of press about… our exclusive pillows.
Check them out http://www.peacelovepets.com/id26.html

We thought of this idea following our many phone calls and conversations with the teams in LA & MS that are sleeping on the floors, putting these animals lives ahead of their own, This will be a nice gift to them to commemorate their hard work and compassion.

Plus, we thought of another touching element for those who have helped or participated in all of these efforts – Without My PET?! Is a series of silhouettes with the message –
"I don’t know what I’d do without my dog, so I am help those that had to" Of course we have cats and horses too. Check them out here - https://www.cafepress.com/peacelovepets/873938

Finally… VOLUNTEER shirts. We tried to think of a sentiment that encompassed everyone’s feelings as they entered our lot or warehouse, and I think we hit it right on the head. Check out the VOLUNTEER STORE – https://www.cafepress.com/peacelovepets






Thank you all for hanging in there with us.
PLP.

The HIGH PRICE of HELPING

---This posting has been sent to EVERY news organization in California, and we are working on getting it to cover the west coast.. this information will get out there!
------

Here's a few points on what I am calling - The high cost of helping

There are at least 60 assorted groups that have heard the call for help, and like a good strong community should, they got together an amazing amount of donations and product to get to the Gulf Coast area.

Some groups, like us, got immediately into the relief effort and pre booked their trucks for transport to that area.
The standard rate for a transport there is about 1.50 - 2.00/mile depending on gas prices
it ends up being about $3450 for a solid rate to the New Orleans area, anything over that is gouging, anything under that is still reasonable, with the driver compensated nicely.

(this has been from information gathered from drivers and brokers alike)

Most groups that had shipments booked early got out at those prices within the first week following Katrina.
However, once FEMA set up contracts with LANDSTAR a main transport company, the price they are paying is 6K - 12K a truckload. Small assistance groups cannot compete with those prices and ANY trucks that were prebooked are getting cancelled due to the fact that these drivers are willing to try to get more $$ somewhere else, despite contracts signed and deposits made.

There are NO charitable runs, in fact it's the opposite, almost EVERY transport company is GAUGING beyond belief. They feel there are many reasons for this, however, that doesn't help the catholic churches in the area that have "adopted" a parish in the Gulf Coast, directly fulfilling the needs of parishioners and "adopting" individual families. These families have gotten promises of these shipments but truck after truck cancelling.

My own experience has been that we successfully sent 2 semi's full of pallets so far.
The first ended up showing up to load 2 days late, then the driver dropped half the load 3 miles from where it was to go, and regardless of contracts or liability insurance, the "items" on the pallet weren't worth enough to insure, despite their need and effectiveness - i.e.: 1 crate of urgent medical supplies of rehydrating kits, vaccines, and large animal surgical sets. My second truck came after 3 earlier cancellations, these cancellations came with in hours of their departure time leaving us scrambling in the last minutes. Fortunatly we were working with a very dependable broker that came through for us, despite the fact that even his truck that HE booked for us canceled in the last few hours. And our most recent truck - the rates have been raised to 5K, no one else willing to take a load there regardless of the human tragedy, and again we have been faced with LAST minute cancellations. We are finding we are not the ONLY groups experiencing this and after speaking to Mike Lowery, VP of American Trucking Association, & Hon. Bill Graves Pres. of ATA and former Gov. of Kansas... there does not seem to be any recourse. They were discouraged to hear about the gauging but felt it was out of their hands and the truckers need the money that have been missing out on for so long.

This dilemma has prompted a number of relief groups to feel much like I do and attempt to consider the "cost of helping" - while we work in such a way that we respect $$ should not be an object, we have to consider an element of fairness in the marketplace. We all are passionate about helping and providing however, is it the unreliability of the trucking companies that hinder us to do so? Most of the organizations are not asking for a hand-out regarding the transport of items there, just competency and feasibility... these are paying customers as well.

I realize I have rambled this too long, but thought the news team could consider this angle on the efforts. I sit and look at my warehouse filled with pallets of feed and fencing and crates that I have personally promised on behalf of the Bay Area donors and yet, we cannot seem to get it there, despite the costs and we are not the only ones.

My RANT about TRUCKS!!!!

Dear Volunteers and PLP supporters,

Peace, Love, & Pets growth has been an amazing experience. We had small hopes and aspirations that grew into an amazing effort that has covered the bay area - end to end. We have all learned much about our compassion for animals and have developed friendships surrounding that. With every picture we see on the news, in the papers, on the net - of any of these innocent and suffering animals, it has driven all of us to do more, and that we have. The donations came fast, the word spread, and we all have achieved what we had hoped to do -to Do something about this sad tragedy. We set out to make a difference to if only a few animals, and provide assistance to those so diligently working in the field.

Okay.. so after all this thanks and fluff, I have a rant to share... but first here's the news -

Our truck was cancelled Weds. and we have finally booked a truck to depart tomorrow- Friday 10:00 am it will begin loading, we have all the pallets ready and while we'd love to make an event of this, I feel we need to just sit tight and cross our fingers that this truck is actually going to show up.

-------

Now for my rant- at least to share with you yet another reason that our efforts matter...

Collecting these items, keeping up with groups in the field and working long hours to the point of exhaustion has actually been the easy part. Rather it has been the final step in all of these efforts that have proven to be waring on the spirit... finding reliable transportation.

Our first effort was through a Company called Landstar, that offered a truck immediately the next day that we had asked for it in early Sept. Landstar is the main transport company under contract with FEMA providing all Hurricane relief transport. The next day that they were to show up , they cancelled on us said they would not be able to work with us after this point since they were contracted for the human Efforts. This was followed by 2 other trucks booking and canceling on us. This scenario has repeated itself 6 additional times after this. It has been unbelievably frustrating and discouraging.

Our most recent truck was scheduled and "locked in" to load and depart Weds. Morning. Many of us worked long and late into the evening . We began booking this truck to leave the weekend Rita hit, and mind you - WE ARE PAYING for these trucks - and the best we could do was Weds. Morning, 6 days later. Since this truck is going to be dropping loads to assist at least 4 other groups throughout texas and louisiana, we anticipated a higher fee, but the gouged prices have been unbelievable. Many of you came out over the weekend to help, more of you continued to help late into the evenings anticipating this truck. However, Tuesday evening, I got word from the broker that the driver had pulled out of the deal. I then called and attempted to try to salvage and rework the contract and they then obliged.. we were back on for a weds. 7am departure. At 5 am I received a call saying they had once again backed out of the deal.

The last 24 hours have been some of the most difficult through all of this.. difficult because there are groups adamantly waiting for these supplies and I have been sitting there staring at the pallets waiting to go on the loading dock. Weds, Gary and I actually went to the south San Francisco truck stops to attempt to hire an independent... hitting the pavement and talking to the truckers I learned quite a bit about the other-side of this dilemma, and most of it points to the lack of Gov. agency support for charitable groups and the inflated gas prices, it was quite entertaining and enlightening, but alas, we had yet to book a truck.

Today - Thurs - after many more failed attempts I picked up the phone and called the American Trucking Association, finagled a call with their President Bill Graves, who actually happens to be the "honorable" (recent) Governor Graves of Kansas. We had a lovely conversation, he gave me a few pointers, listened to our problems, and was disturbed by some of the gauging.

We now have a truck - hopefully- showing up at 10 am. Also, keep an eye out for an investigative report on CBS 5 for more about how charitable groups providing hurricane assistance are not able to compete with Gov. gouging.

Also, I WILL get to the blog today, I had to focus on a truck first.

Here's a little something to keep in mind and keep you fired up - CNN is about to bust open a story about a massive dog killing. People were told to leave their animals behind at a school and that they would be rescued and cared for. When rescuers showed up(last night/this morn), they ALL had been killed, some were assistance dogs. Crews that I used to know with CNN have been with one of the groups today investigating and verifying it - the story is NOT CONFIRMED, therefore at this time it is still a story.

Yes BE MAD, and yes if you want to go help - GO! I will try to help you get to the groups that would fit your interests as best that I can, however, just being there for the animals is being a hero, you don't have to bust down doors to do that.

Thanks for hanging in there with us,

Colleen & GARY

Yes it's 6 am and I have been up for a while... my mind is reeling from all we need to do and all the help that is needed.

Who we are helping...
I got a tip from an email about Eric Rice - a guy from Baltimore, Bulkregister.com G.M. - he just went down and dove into it all... literally. He now has groups of volunteers working with him going in and continuing to save these animals, while they may be a "splinter group" as I had mentioned in earlier emails... they are getting the job done and doing it right where the HSUS is sadly failing.
Here's a bit from his blog on www.ericsdogblog.com

The first day back after the storm we are going to start blasting the list of the owner call ins. This is the list of thousands of people who called the much published HSUS 800 number to report a trapped pet. Many of these people probably think that HSUS, with all their money and support, got the list into hands of rescuers. They have not. Finally, people who were so amazed about this, took the list and started to get it data processed and put into simple mapping programs. I told them to do this two weeks ago and even offered to direct them to db companies who could help! Think about this. HSUS virtually promised on ads and internet marketing that they would try to rescue their pets. I hear this list is over 20k and could be much larger. These are leads for rescuers to go directly where there is a pet. Will we ever get it? Who knows at this point? But if you called them and think that your pet has been saved, think again. You’d be better off just calling local groups like us on the ground and giving us the information again.
We can still save thousands of pets.
Nothing is slowing down. We are still finding many alive! An incredible story from yesterday. A pit bull mother and her puppy were found left in a crate in her house with no food and water, still alive after we broke the door. They were in horrible shape but from what I hear, once they got water they perked up right away. Case in point we had to get two people to take them back to Gonzales. And their day was basically over. This is a game of logistics and the people in the field have proven this by saving 1000 upon 1000s of animals that they are capable. We try not to do anything to take us away from rescuing. We rescued last night with spot lights until almost 10 o’clock. The police and guard pull us over and say “Great job. Get it done.” We simply need more hours and more people to get these lists done.

I spoke to Eric yesterday... granted i was one of the hundreds of people that are calling him everyday, but i think I got my point across... "What do YOU need?! - Not "Heres what we have".
He basically shouted over the phone - "WE NEED PEOPLE! People willing to rough it, get in here, and help get these animals to safety." So for all of you out there looking for a place and way to go, volunteering info is on his site. Then I reiterated, "what do you need to make this easier for you to continue with time against you?" He said "If you really want to help - we need GPS units"
Here's why - there are NO roads, they are getting addresses from this 'database' now of where animals are or should be, but there is no way to find them by a map - NO ROADS. It's all by boat, so if they enter in the address of where they need to go and the GPS picks up their coordinates, it will route them to DIRECTLY where they need to go. He is working in the Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes - he lower "toe" of LA.

Sounds logical-- so, with the $$ earned by our ladies at Trader Joe's & another donor's generosity, we are buying the unit(s) today and fed-exing them to arrive tomorrow. Let's get things done!

-------
Another one of you in my email group tipped me off to Dr. Eric white at the New Iberia Humane Society, LA
I sent an email, left a message and then called this morning. I just got off the phone with his wife who immediately apoligized "forgive me i have only slept 3 hours in four days, you would not beleive it here."
New Iberia &Vermillion Parish are in the southwester end of LA that was just ripped apart by Rita.
this is Dr. White's entire region, he knows the families, the pets, the livestock in this area. He has been in St. Bernard Parish ever since Katrina, not taking a break, but then when rita was coming he had to head home. Now he has families, friends and clients that have lost EVERYTHING! His sister is 9 months pregnant and her home is gone - does not exist where it had been . the coastal towns of Creole and Cameron are gone. These areas are strong Equine communities, they are trying to save as many horses as possible. they are putting together a list for us to try to make sure we have them covered for their needs and their communities needs.

a lot of you have wondered why we are asking so much for horse & livestock feed - here's the problem, it is the end of September, HAY season is over. ANY hay that would be available has already been cut and baled, this needs to last most folks through the winter till the next season, so folks hold tight to their Hay. Any hay that was brought in over this past break between the storms has now been ruined or is gone. Grain and feed in bags is easier to store and keep out of the elements than the hay is. Plus most of us have 2 + dogs/cats. These folks have 4-30 horses and hundreds of head of cattle/cow/goat/pigs.. these are BIG animals that need a LOT of food.

If any of you want to help them out down there.. they really need it and it's not going to be the personnel mess that the New Orleans area is, politics are out of it. staging areas are at Sugarena.
www.sugarena.com - there is a "yellow 'ticker' going across the page with info.

we are going to be here for them and our lines of communication are open.

TRUCK... the never ending saga of getting a truck... we will have one within the next few days, but really need to get these items that these groups really need - on it.
i know I have tapped many of you out, but we need to keep plugging away, please share these emails with like minded folks that will help out in any and every way, the animals are counting on you. (a lil catholic guilt for ya!)

Volunteers
I have specific phone needs and need folks that can handle making some calls and doing the research on their own to get extra supplies.
We would love some assistance at the warehouse Weds. night - Some of you keep promising to come by but have not yet, come on over, we would love to meet you, and give our over-worked volunteers that have been there everyday - a break.

thanks ya'll
Colleen & Gary