Pupdate: Trooper The Dog Famously Abandoned In Hurricane Milton, Has Found A Happy Forever Home

Trooper, the bull terrier left to die in a flooded field
as Hurricane Milton approached, but rescued by a Florida
State Trooper, is now living his best life with his new
mom and dad, Frank and Carla Spinner, and his 
sister dog Dallas. 

 Since I'm a sucker for happy dog stories, or at least ones with happy endings, I have to update you on Trooper.  

Trooper was the dog found tied to a fence in floodwaters as Hurricane Milton approached Florida back in October. 

An eagle-eyed motorist spotted them, call the cops, who came and rescued the terrified bull terrier. The dog's owner, Giovanny Aldama Garcia, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals.  In addition to his legal trouble, he can never see the dog he abused ever again. 

After his rescue, Trooper was housed at Leon County Humane Society in Tallahassee, where he recuperated and prepared to eventually meet a forever family

To nobody's surprise, there was a ton of interest in adopting Trooper. But Amy Raddar of that humane society said they were looking for a specific type of adopter, given the bull terrier''s rough history with his former owner.

Trooper didn't like men, given that previous owner was a creepy guy. The Humane Society were a bit wary of Frank and Carla Spina, because Frank is obviously a man, as CBS News reports.   

 The Spinas, however, had been raising and giving homes to bull terriers for more than three decades. The couple drove seven hours from their home in Parkland, Florida for a meet and greet with Trooper.,

The couple sat down, and Trooper came over to the couple. The dog got under Frank Spina legs, Frank gave Trooper and nice scratch and that was it, they were fast friends. 

The couple have another bull terrier named Dallas. Trooper and Dallas got along immediately, too. 

The papers were signed, and Trooper became part of the Spina family. "We will take good care of him," Carla Spina said. "We just want everyone to know we are going to give him the best life."

CBS continues:

"For the Spinas, it feels like their family's missing piece was found. "We are like living in a dream,' said Frank Spina. 'We just can't believe that a month ago we saw a news report and now a month later he's in my bedroom.'"

Here's the happy CBS News video to completely fill you in. As always, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Pupdate: Owner Of Dog Abandoned Near Highway In Hurricane Faces Charges

The horrible person who allegedly abandoned this
dog tied to a fence near Tampa, Florida as
Hurricane Milton approached has been arrested.
The dog, as we noted last week, was rescued by
a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper.

 Remember that dog I wrote about recently that was abandoned near Interstate 75 outside of Tampa, Florida in floodwaters as Hurricane Milton approached?  

As we wrote, the dog was rescued. And there was the predictable outrage over this. Now, the person who allegedly left the pooch there to almost certainly die in the hurricane has been arrested.

The Tampa Bay Times tell us: 

Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23 was booked into jail Monday on a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals, which is a felony. 

The Tampa Bay Times continues the story by telling us Garcia called an animal shelter in Hillsborough, County, Florida that he was the dog's owner but would give it up if someone would love and care for it.

Which is the opposite of what he did, but there you go.

Offices later talked to Garcia at his home in Ruskin, Florida, who said he had the dog since it was a puppy but could no longer care for it. 

That's when a normal person might turn the dog into a reputable animal shelter but that's not Garcia, apparently. 

Garcia said he was with this mother on Interstate 75 during the mass evacuation ahead of Hurricane Milton when his mother let the dog out of the car. The narrative doesn't say why, or details how it ended up tied to that fence in floodwater.

Apparently, Garcia saw social media posts about the dog's rescue and try to reclaim the pooch.

Not happening, by the way. 

Garcia will not be allowed to have the dog, which has since been renamed Trooper. A foster family is caring for Trooper for now, until he's ready for an adoption into a forever home. 

More details emerged over how the dog was found. He was tied to a fence quite a distance from the roadway, in a flooded low spot difficult for passing motorists to notice.

However, in rainy weather hours before ferocious Hurricane Milton arrived, an eagle-eyed woman in a car traveling on Interstate 75 that day spotted the dog and called police, the Tampa Bay Times reported.  

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Orlando Morales drove to the area and initially couldn't see the dog. However, he began calling the dog over a portable speaker and the dog poked his head up above the brush. Rescue was at hand. 

Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez said some crimes can get enhanced charges if they are committed during a state of emergency, as this case was. However, animal cruelty is not one of those crimes, and she urged the Florida legislature to change the law so enhanced charges could be filed if something like this ever happens again. 

Meanwhile, Garcia was released from jail Tuesday on $2,500 cash bond.  He could face up to five years in jail if found guilty. 

A Vile Horrible Person Left A Dog To Die In Hurricane Milton: Spoiler: Dog Rescued

Florida Highway Patrol troopers found this dog in
this situation, abandoned, tied to a fence amid
flood waters as Hurricane Milton approached
on Wednesday.  The troopers rescued the dog and
its safe and doing well now. I really hope
whoever did this is NOT safe and doing well now. 

 There is a special place in hell for whoever did the following.

As Hurricane Milton approached Florida Wednesday, somebody tied a dog to a fence in for what for the pooch was chest deep water off Interstate 75 near Tampa in a spot virtually invisible to passing motorists.  

Thankfully, either an eagle-eyed motorist called police, or a very alert Florida Highway Patrol Trooper spotted the dog and rescued it. 

Body cam video taken by the trooper who rescued the dog shows the officer under rainy skies wading into a soggy, puddle-strewn field next to the highway to reach what appears to be an English bull terrier. 

As the trooper approaches the frightened dog, it growled and barked at the trooper, who replied to the dog, "It's OK, I don't blame you."

Florida Highway Patrol posted the body cam video on social media with the caption, "Do NOT do this to your pets, please."

Yeah, no kidding!

The dog was taken to a veterinarian who gave the pooch a clean bill of health. The Highway Patrol posted a followup photo of the dog, looking understandably happier, safe in the police cruiser on a blanket, being taken to the vet.

Since it was a highway patrolman that rescued the dog, it has been named Trooper. 

The dog will probably be put up for adoption, though at this point, the Leon County Florida Humane Society, where Trooper is staying, says he is not up for adoption now.  Given the publicity this incident has received, I imagine this dog will find a loving forever home. 

Trooper needs time to de-stress and recover, the Humane Society said on social media: "We can't imagine the situation that ended with him tied to this pole and left him without any hope. It's hard even to think about how scared he must have been as cars raced by, the water rose to his belly and the storm clouds darkened."  

The Humane Society also said, contrary to false reports circulating on line, Trooper has not been reunited with family or anybody else. If whoever left Trooper tied up like that, they will certainly face charges. 

Quite predictably, this incident sparked outrage everywhere. 

One example: Readers of this blog know I don't exactly love Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but I'm 100 percent in agreement when he said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference:

"I hope they find the person who did it, and that person should have the book thrown at them. We've got very good laws against animal cruelty....we don't have tolerance for that in Florida. I thought it was outrageous that somebody would do that."

Whenever whoever did this to the poor dog, name them and shame them for sure!