The former owner of a dog found tied to a fence just hours ahead of Hurricane Milton’s Category Three landfall in the Tampa Bay, Florida area has been identified.
Shocking video of the distressed dog’s rescue when viral on social media as Hurricane Milton barreled down on Florida’s Gulf Coast last week. The dog, a bull terrier, was found shivering and chained to a fence along I-75. He was thankfully rescued by Florida Highway Patrol officers before he almost certainly would have been killed by the oncoming flooding.
A third of the dog’s body was already submerged in water by the time officers rescued him.
The dog, who has been renamed to Trooper, is currently in foster care. “His name is Trooper, because of how much he’s been through and to honor those who saved him,” the Leon County Humane Society in Tallahassee said in a statement.
On Tuesday, State Attorney Suzy Lopez announced that Giovanny Aldama Garcia has been identified as the dog’s former owner and is now being charged with aggravated animal cruelty. Garcia allegedly told investigators that he was driving to Georgia to evacuate ahead of the storm but left his dog, Jumbo, on the side of the road because he couldn’t find anyone who would pick up the dog.
“Criminals face harsher penalties, as a matter of fact, during a state of emergency, which we were in last week, and we are in now,” Lopez said in a press release. “They will face the music.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis praised the officer who rescued the dog during a press conference on Tuesday. “The dog was very rattled from that experience. Rescued the dog. The dog’s now in Tallahassee. It will be adopted, renamed Trooper. But we said at the time, you don’t just tie up a dog and have them out there for a storm,” the governor said.
“Totally unacceptable. And we’re going to hold you accountable,” DeSantis added before praising Lopez’s office for making an arrest.
DeSantis had previously vowed to hold the dog’s owner accountable as the storm approached. “I’m warning you, don’t do that. If you loot, you will be held accountable. If you’re doing things that violate the law, if you’re going to try to take advantage of vulnerable people, we’re going to throw the book at you,” DeSantis said on Oct. 10. “We even had some jackass chain a dog to a pole. As the storm was coming, Florida Highway Patrol rescued the dog.”
The dog was discovered by Florida Highway Patrol trooper Morales — whose first name has not been identified — just hours before Hurricane Milton brought 120 MPH winds and catastrophic flash flooding to the area. “He’s an animal lover and father to a rescue dog himself,” Lopez said.
The dog, who was found tied to a fence, was already standing in a puddle of water and reportedly growled at the officer as he approached. “It’s OK buddy, it’s OK… I don’t blame you,” the officer could be heard saying in body-cam footage of the rescue.
Trooper is currently being cared for in the state capital of Tallahassee and will be put up for adoption. The Leon County Humane society has stated that they have already received hundreds of inquiries about the dog.
“He’s incredibly stressed and still decompressing,” the animal shelter said. “Abandoning a dog like this doesn’t typically allow for an immediate bounce back to their happy selves. Most dogs when rescued take a few days to feel safe, a few weeks to come out of their shell, and a few months to become comfortable and fall into a routine.”
“We have absolutely no idea what his life looked like before he was abandoned,” the humane society explained. “We want to be sure that we know exactly what he needs before even considering adoption, so he’ll be in foster care until we feel confident he’s ready for the next phase of life, and that his future will be kind to him.
