ATLANTA — Pets from the Hurricane Harvey storm zone will call metro Atlanta home while families take shelter.
The Atlanta Humane Society saw its first truckload of animals at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
Workers expect it won't be the last.
“They reached out to us and we're happy to help,” Amanda Harris, with the Atlanta Humane Society, said.
Animal shelters along the Gulf of Mexico are preparing for a huge number of cats and dogs displaced by flooding, so they need all the space they can get.
“So they can be close to their owners and have the best possible chance to be reunited with their families,” Harris told Channel 2's Matt Johnson.
RELATED STORIES:
- Hurricane Harvey: Live updates
- Hurricane Harvey: Here's how to use the internet when you don't have access to the internet
- PHOTOS: Hurricane Harvey slams the Texas coast
Twenty-nine animals from Louisiana arrived at the Howell Mill Road location Saturday morning.
The local humane society also helped take in animals from the Gulf Coast region in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.
“This isn’t the first time we've had to assist in this way, so they knew they could count on us as a partner,” Harris said.
As more shelters along the Gulf will likely continue to need more space, the local nonprofit is temporarily waiving its adoption fees for all animals 1 year older and older.
“To make sure we have plenty of room to take in from the influx that Hurricane Harvey is going to cause,” Harris told Johnson.
Officials in Texas and Louisiana are urging evacuees not to leave their animals behind when they leave before the storm, but local volunteers say that's often how displaced animals come into their care.