The care of pets has been a high-priority for Villagers during the anxious hour of Hurricane Irma.
The pet-friendly shelter set up by Lake County at the Villages Elementary of Lady Lake filled up quickly on Saturday, with many shelter-seekers coming from the Historic Side of The Villages.
There are 506 people and 86 pets at the school on Rolling Acres Road.
The pet-friendly shelter set up at the Sumter County Fairgrounds also filled up quickly.
Pet owners were required to have their animals in crates or carriers. They also were responsible for bringing provisions for their pets.
It’s a far cry from some of the pet desertion stories coming from other parts of the state.
Dianne Sauve, head of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, told the Palm Beach Post her department will be pursuing criminal charges against owners who abandoned their dogs and left them tied up in places where they would not be able to escape the storm. On Friday, 23 abandoned dogs were removed from a single mobile home park. Palm Beach County officials reportedly will file court documents seeking legal custody of the dogs that were abandoned and left to fend for themselves during the storm.
