An undated image provided by the city of Parkland of wristbands that city officials presented to the couple who adopted Trooper, a bull terrier abandoned along Interstate 75 near Tampa as people fled intensifying weather and flooding from approaching Hurricane Milton. Nearly a year later the dog, named Trooper for the state trooper who rescued him, has been thriving in his new home. Photo / City of Parkland via The New York Times
An undated image provided by the city of Parkland of wristbands that city officials presented to the couple who adopted Trooper, a bull terrier abandoned along Interstate 75 near Tampa as people fled intensifying weather and flooding from approaching Hurricane Milton. Nearly a year later the dog, named Trooper for the state trooper who rescued him, has been thriving in his new home. Photo / City of Parkland via The New York Times
Hurricane Milton was barrelling towards Florida last October when the emergency call came in about a dog that was stuck in rising waters.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers like Orlando Morales were looking out for crashes as residents scrambled to evacuate from the hurricane, a rapidly intensifying Category 5 storm.
WhenMorales responded, he was sceptical that it could be true. But then, in the distance off Interstate 75 near Tampa, he spotted the dog’s head sticking out from the flooding terrain.
Along a grassy field, he pulled his cruiser over and approached the trembling bull terrier as rain poured down.
“It’s okay buddy, it’s okay,” Morales said in a gentle tone to the growling dog, according to police video.
“I don’t blame you. It’s okay,” he continued, before he brought the dog to the safety of his cruiser.
Nearly a year later, the dog, a bull terrier who was named Trooper after his saviour, has been thriving in his new home in suburban Parkland, Florida, with Frank and Carla Spina and his adoptive sister, Dallas, who is of the same breed.
On weekends, Trooper and Dallas enjoy chowing down on scrambled eggs.
Trooper’s story has inspired a new Florida law that makes restraining and abandoning pets during a natural disaster a criminal offence.
The terrier with dark brown ears has also been recognised by city officials in Parkland as the “top dog” there, and residents instantly recognise him when he’s out and about.
“He is great, absolutely fantastic,” Frank Spina said in a recent interview from his home, as Trooper lazily lounged next to him on a beige sofa — his favourite spot — while nudging him with his nose to be petted.
‘I was in disbelief.’
At first, Morales thought the call about a tethered dog on the side of the road was bogus, but he decided to investigate anyway.
“I had seen the head pop up from a distance from the interstate,” he recalled in an interview.
“I was in disbelief,” he added. “There is legitimately a dog right here,” he recalled thinking.
Morales said Trooper “seemed scared, nervous and angry at the same time”. He was in standing water, and his collar appeared to have got caught in a fence, Morales said.
“It was heartwarming” to get to save him, Morales said, “but it was also upsetting to see a dog in that type of condition in that environment, especially as a Category 5 was approaching.”
An undated image courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol of the bull terrier found tethered and abandoned along Interstate 75 near Tampa as people fled intensifying weather and flooding from approaching Hurricane Milton. Photo / Courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol via The New York Times
Morales has his own rescue dog at home, so he knew what to do.
“I tried to get on his level, calm him down and just take as much time as needed,” Morales said.
The trooper used a makeshift leash and eventually led the dog back to his cruiser, where there was a blanket waiting for him.
“He willingly went ahead and walked in,” he said.
Morales took the dog to the Hillsborough County animal shelter to be checked out. He later drove him to the Leon County Humane Society in Tallahassee, where Trooper was placed in foster care and put up for adoption.
His previous owner was charged with animal cruelty.
The Florida Highway Patrol shared the dog’s story on its social media accounts, urging residents, “Do NOT do this to your pets please”.
Within days, on October 15, his owner was charged aggravated animal cruelty.
Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 24, of Ruskin, Florida, admitted to abandoning the dog, according to Suzy Lopez, the state lawyer for Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit.
Garcia told investigators that he was driving to Georgia to escape the hurricane, but left his dog, whom he called Jumbo, on the side of the road “because he couldn’t find anyone to pick the dog up”, Lopez said.
A lawyer for Garcia, Tony Lopez Mora, said his client “denies that there was any case of animal cruelty and the case is set for trial later this year”.
If convicted, Garcia faces up to five years in prison. His next court hearing is September 17.
Now, Trooper is thriving in Parkland.
Frank and Carla Spina, a trial lawyer and hospital executive, knew they were smitten when they came across Trooper’s rescue story.
The couple had been raising bull terriers since 1992, and they thought Trooper bore a striking resemblance to Diesel, their 16-year-old bull terrier, who died in 2024.
“We need to get him,” Frank Spina recalled telling his wife. “Diesel is sending us to get him.”
They inquired about the dog, and in November the Spinas welcomed Trooper to their family, where he would live alongside Dallas, who is 8. She was rescued in Texas in 2019.
When Trooper arrived, he was in rough shape, the couple said, with his legs stained brown from living in dirt. He also appeared thinner than he should have been, Frank Spina, 62, recalled in an interview.
The Spinas hired a trainer to come once a week and teach him basic commands. They also took him to the veterinarian, but it would take some time to get him healthy.
About a month after Trooper’s arrival, his veterinarian discovered two quarter-size lumps above his ribs, which turned out to be cancerous. An operation to remove them was successful, and Trooper is now cancer-free, the couple said.
Frank and Carla Spina, who adopted Trooper, with city officials for a presentation. Photo / City of Parkland via The New York Times
Then, more scans revealed that unknown objects were lodged in the dog’s stomach.
Frank Spina recalled one night when Trooper vomited a piece of rubber that measured “2 inches by 2 inches [5cm by 5cm]”.
Trooper went through a four-hour endoscopy to remove more than a kilogram of plastic, metal and rubber material from his stomach, Frank Spina said.
He said he believed the dog had been starving and forced to eat whatever it could find.
“That is what he has been through,” Frank Spina said through tears.
‘Trooper’s Law’ penalises the abandonment of dogs in natural disasters.
This May, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida Senate Bill 150, which makes it an offence to restrain and abandon a dog outdoors “during a declared natural disaster or at any time” when a mandatory or voluntary evacuation order is in effect.
Animal rights supporters hailed the bill, which was paired with another animal protection measure that increases penalties for animal cruelty.
“There’s never an acceptable excuse for such gross animal cruelty and neglect, even during an emergency,” the Pet Advocacy Network, a national group based in Alexandria, Virginia, said in a statement about the law.
“Trooper’s Law” takes effect on October 1.
‘Parkland’s top dog’ eats scrambled eggs and holidays at Universal.
These days, Trooper enjoys a life of leisure, often lounging on a beige sofa in a cool home office where he watches TV.
“This is his couch,” Frank Spina said as the dog splayed out at his side while looking up at him. “This is where he loves to be.”
Trooper has two beds in crates at the residence.
“He needs safe spaces,” Frank Spina said.
Daily meals include kibble and sweet potato. Weekends call for scrambled eggs.
“He only drinks filtered water,” Frank Spina said of Trooper, who went on his first holiday to Universal Orlando Resort in April. “He is doing great, and he’s got his sister.”
In Parkland, Trooper is a celebrity.
City officials there formally recognised him in February, presenting him and his owners with a bandanna and wristbands that read “We love Trooper” and “Parkland’s Top Dog.”
Nearly a year later, Morales said he was still grateful that the dog he rescued, as a destructive storm threatened the state, would go on to have a better life.
“He gets the happy ending that he deserves,” he said.
