The Jacksonville Humane Society was nearly emptied this week because several people across the First Coast fostered pets during Hurricane Dorian.
For Jessica Marshall and Hannah Benson, it was an emotional goodbye after spending the past few days with a dog named "Coffee."
"He was behaving pretty well, she was the nice one like the mom, and I was the dad," Marshall said. "It feels like we had him for so long it was like he was our child."
Benson and Marshall say fostering Coffee was a great experience, but the two are busy with their college lives at the University of North Florida and are unable to keep him.
"We were a bit hesitant because we didn’t want to get attached, but we love him and we cried bringing him back," Marshall said. "We're glad we did it and we hope others feel the same way."
One-hundred-and-forty cats and 79 dogs were fostered during Hurricane Dorian. The Jacksonville Humane Society worked with other organizations in case other shelters needed to move pets because of the storm.
Lindsay Layendecker, Senior Manager of Education and Outreach feels that their groups have to try and help as many animals as they can.
“When we do a short term foster program, we have a 25 to 30 percent adoption rate," Layendecker said. "It’s lovely to get a lot of animals placed into homes ... We like to get all of our animals out of the path of the storm ... Adoption is wonderful but if people don’t adopt, we want them to know that’s okay. It’s such a benefit for us when a dog or cat can go into a home and we get notes on how it does there."
Layendecker said that even though the humane society is "wonderful," pets don't always get the attention that foster families give. Through their Storm Trooper Foster Program, "those who are fostered get into homes much faster than they may have before, she added.
After a few days of fostering, Benson and Marshall hope that Coffee can find a forever home.
"Whoever adopts him, he will attach to them really quick, he will show you the love back that you show him," Marshall said.