Dozens of dogs and cats that were waiting to be adopted in shelters down south arrived in New Jersey a day before Hurricane Irma is expected to make landfall.
The animals were flown out of Tampa, Florida and Greenville, South Carolina. They arrived at Saint Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, New Jersey.
Crowds of people were at the shelter on Saturday. So many people have shown up that there's a wait to see an adoption counselor, shelter workers say.
“We have been apologizing gratefully to our lobby full of adopters every week, because it’s so wonderful for the animals,” said Nora Parker. “I think a lot of people, if they were thinking about adopting or they were on the fence about it, they’re deciding now’s the time.”
Ana Henry says she adopted a dog.
“In cases like that I feel more sorry to the animals sometimes than even the people,” Henry said. “Because people know what they’re doing. They know they have to evacuate. Animals are dependent on what the owners do for them.”
The shelters in Florida and South Carolina evacuated the animals so they’d have space to take in animals rescued during Hurricane Irma, which is expected to make landfall south of Tampa on Sunday morning.
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Some of the animals arrived at the shelter from Texas and Louisiana when Hurricane Harvey hit late last month. Shelter workers said about 100 of those animals have already been adopted or are in foster care.
