Jonathan Drake/Reuters
A North Carolina woman has been arrested for taking in dozens of animals whose owners fled ahead of Hurricane Florence. Tammie Hedges, the owner of an animal rescue center, reportedly faces 12 counts of practicing medicine without a veterinary license. She told USA Today that she just wanted to “save as many animals from the flood that we could” despite the center not yet being legally registered. “The owners got to evacuate. They got to save themselves. But who’s going to save those animals? That’s what we did,” she was quoted as saying. “We saved them.” Hedges provided care to at least 17 cats and 10 dogs as the storm battered the area with heavy rain and flooding. She has since handed the animals over to Wayne County Animal Control after being informed of the charges against her. Hedge’s supporters have expressed outrage over what one of them described as “bogus” charges, saying all the medications administered were over-the-counter and had been given to the animals only because the local vet was closed due to the storm.