Ishie:For specific concerns about the stranded animals, and reuniting people with their animals, since some refused to leave because they wouldn't leave their best friends behind, there's an organization called Noah's Wish that responds specifically to animals in disaster situations. They were rescuing farm animals to try to help rebuild people's livelihoods and vaccinating dogs to stem disease outbreaks during the Asian tsunami, and I believe in this crisis, they were taking pets from people to foster homes until their owners could find permanent accommodations, as well as trying to rescue stranded animals, though clearly the priority with out and out rescue attempts right now is getting the people out of there. I'd never heard of Noah's Wish, but I saw them on the news, so donated to them as well as Red Cross, as much as I could afford to both. No diving this weekend, but well worth it.
Ishie,
The other excellent organization helping animals in need already is the Humane Society, you can help through their website: www.hsus.org They are fully geared for this type of thing internationally and are onsite in the areas affected by Katrina.
Also, though I haven't figured out how to volunteer with them, Discovery's Animal Planet has quite a large mobile veterinary set up for helping all of god's creatures. They responded here in NM in 2000 when we had the huge fires in Los Alamos. Seeing them pull into the area for animal refugees in Santa Fe truly brought tears to my eyes.
There are numerous good sites online to volunteer a place/bed/living space, for people displaced, and even to offer transportation for those needing it from shelters.
Lisa