A Madison County animal shelter recently opened its doors for animals displaced by Hurricane Gustav.

The Madison Ark shelter was just a few weeks away from its opening date, but since the storm was quickly approaching the Gulf Coast, volunteers decided to make room for animals from Mississippi.

"Up until this point, we had been raising money to remodel this building, which was donated by the city to house the dogs and cats," said Angela Peterson, President of Board of Directors of the Madison Ark. "But with the hurricane, we just saw the need and started taking animals in."

The shelter, located on Post Oak Road, currently has around 20 dogs and 13 cats that came from a shelter in Waveland, MS. But unlike Gulf Coast residents, they will not be returning home.

"They are not going back unless someone wants to adopt them back from where they came," added Peterson.

"The community has just outpoured everything they had it seems like to us and to these animals," said Peterson, referring to supplies at the shelter.

A few of the dogs and cats have been set aside for specific people, but animals won't be officially up for adoption until next week, since the shelter is currently working to put together its adoption policy.