Tony Alsup has been driving through a hurricane zone for 48 hours straight, rescuing animals from overcrowded shelters.

Fifty-one-year-old Tony Alsup saw on the news that there were animals that needed saving. So, in the wake of Hurricane Florence, Tony was concerned about the "leftover pets" that shelters didn't have room for. So he bought a bus, and on that bus he set out into the throes of the hurricane to drive from Tennessee to Alabama to South Carolina to North Carolina, stopping at more than five animal shelters in less than 48 hours.

In the last week, Tony has rescued more than 53 dogs and 11 cats from South Carolina shelters, as originally reported by Greenville News.

"Animals -- especially shelter pets -- they always have to take the back seat of the bus," Tony told the Washington Post. "But I'll give them their own bus. If I have to I'll pay for all the fuel, or even a boat, to get these dogs out of there."

Tony started rescuing pets last year during Hurricane Harvey. When he saw on the news how many shelters were overcrowded, Tony, a truck driver, wanted to help transport these animals to vacant shelters. But he knew he couldn't fit them all in his truck.

"I thought, well what can I do?" Tony said. "I'll just go buy a bus."

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Since last week, Tony set out on his mission, driving non-stop. His bus was stacked from floor to ceiling with kennels, with water bowls, leashes, and toys, strewn across the space between. But he kept telling residents he had room for more. Alsup posted on Facebook, asking South Carolina residents to point him in the right direction of animals that needed help. "NO ONE LEFT BEHIND," he wrote.

The Saint Frances Animal Shelter, one of the shelters Tony stopped at, shared about what he'd done on Facebook.

"It's all true," the shelter wrote on Facebook. "Tony swooped in at 4am Wednesday morning to pick up our 'leftovers' -- the dogs with blocky heads, the ones with heartworm. The ones no one else will ever take. And he got them to safety. Not the most conventional evacuation, but surely the one with the most heart."

Afterwards, Tony drove his bus to Foley, Alabama, where friend Angela Eib-Maddux opened her private animal shelter to bathe and board the animals for the night. The next day, in the manner of 24 hours, the two managed to find homes willing to adopt the animals.

Many came to adopt the cats and dogs right in Foley, Alabama, that day, while others agreed to meet him in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he planned to hand off at least 40 more pets to prospective adopters. The rest, Tony told the Post, he planned to hand off to shelters with vacancies in the region.

Tony says he plans to open his own animal shelter one day. Ever since he bought his rescue school bus with $3,200 he had saved, he's been driving into hurricane zones to rescue animals.

“I love it,” Tony said. “People don’t believe me; they say it’s got to be barking crazy."

But Tony isn't deterred.

"I'm like, look, these are lives, too."

Tony plans to head to Wilmington, North Carolina, to rescue more animals this week.

What's your reaction to Tony's sacrifice? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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