When Hurricane Ike bore down on the Keys, it wasn’t only humans who sought protection. The animals needed safety, too. And many received it in the form of foster homes while the storm threatened.</p><p>“It was awesome,” said Tammy Fox, executive director of the Florida Keys Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Stock Island. “We had a tremendous response.”</p><p>She and others put out an early call asking Keys families to take in animals from the shelter for the duration of the storm. Many did — and some of the foster families have decided to make the addition to the family permanent. Several animals have been adopted since the storm, Fox said. </p><p>Overall, the SPCA fostered out 16 dogs, 54 cats, four rabbits, two guinea pigs, a mouse and a snake. Fox said another 30 cats were transferred to a Naples shelter.</p><p>“The staff took home the leftovers,” Fox said. “There were only four dogs and six cats.” Linda Gottwald, who directs the Marathon and Big Pine Key animal shelters, said she expected luck similar to Fox’s.</p><p>“We were pretty fortunate,” Gottwald said. “A lot of people offered to help but by the time people called, it looked like the storm was not such a threat.”</p><p>The Marathon shelter sent six dogs and five cats to the Broward County animal shelter and Gottwald took others home for safety. At the Big Pine shelter, the animals were moved upstairs where storm surge would not be a threat.</p><p>In addition, Gottwald said she accepted an offer of a local family that wanted to go into the shelter and keep the animals company during the worst of the winds.</p><p>Nine-year-old Sam Arbuckle, a student at Stanley Switlik Elementary School, said she was happy to do it.</p><p>“I love animals,” she said. “The puppies were scared of the winds and rain.”