As Hurricane Francine, a Category 2 storm, hit New Orleans on Wednesday, local animal shelters braced for the 105 mph winds and pounding rain.  

The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals posted on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok leading up to the storm, trying to give their animals a foster home during the hurricane.  

“Tulane students showed up in droves,” Rebecca Melanson, the LASPCA’s marketing and communications director, said.  

Melanson said she had never seen the adoption lobby so full.  

Tulane University senior Danny Stein went to the LASPCA with his roommates the Tuesday before Hurricane Francine hit and left with a new foster dog: Patience.  

“We were in a position where we could help, and we all like dogs, so we thought, why not?” Stein said.  

Stein had to go to two shelters that day; the first one turned him away due to too much demand.   

Senior Amalie also fostered a dog the Tuesday before the hurricane. Amalie took home YB and has not yet returned her to the shelter.

“During the hurricane, as much as we were trying to take care of her, she was also taking care of us,” Amalie said. “She gets along with everyone. Hundreds of kids have been touching her and handling her. She’s always been so chill.”   

Amalie is trying to find a permanent adoption home for YB instead of returning her to the shelter.   

“I don’t know why she was at the shelter, but she has a baby alligator bite on her rear,” Amalie said as she pointed to two scars on YB’s skin.  

The LASPCA fostered 97 animals on Tuesday, a record for the shelter. Melanson said that the overwhelming majority of the 97 fosterers were Tulane students. 

“That community really showed up for us,” she said. 

For the dogs and cats that remained at the LASPCA during the hurricane, a small crew stayed to take care of them. “The animals that did stay there were animals that couldn’t move out the building yet,” Melanson said.

If you are interested in fostering an animal from the LASPCA, you can start the process by filling out the online application form.