BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's agriculture department is creating a second mobile pet shelter for emergencies, like evacuations during a hurricane.

The pet shelter will consist of a 45-foot transport truck with 54 pet cages to assist parishes with the evacuation, transportation and sheltering of evacuee pets. It will be paid with a $72,100 grant from the Banfield Foundation, the charitable arm of Banfield Pet Hospital.

Combined with the other available shelters, the agriculture department says it can accommodate up to 3,000 pets during an emergency. The latest mobile shelter is expected to be ready by August.

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says giving evacuees a place to house their pets during a disaster is a comfort for victims. In previous disasters, some people have refused to evacuate because they couldn't take pets with them.