Two years after a bull terrier was found stranded beside Interstate 75 as Hurricane Milton approached Florida, his story returned to public attention during another major storm.
On October 9, 2026, Hurricane Isaias was bearing down on Florida’s Panhandle. As residents in vulnerable areas prepared to evacuate, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned pet owners that leaving animals behind could bring serious consequences.
“You better treat them properly,” DeSantis said during the storm preparations, warning that people who abused or abandoned pets could be held accountable.
For dogs restrained outside and then abandoned during a qualifying natural disaster, Florida law now carries especially serious penalties.
Under what became known as Trooper’s Law, the offense is a third-degree felony. It can bring up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The law took effect in 2025.
Its name came from one dog whose rescue had unfolded beside a flooded highway a year earlier.
Hurricane Milton Was Closing In on Tampa
On the morning of October 9, 2024, Florida was preparing for Hurricane Milton.
Evacuations were underway across parts of the state. Rain had already fallen heavily around Tampa, and flooding had collected beside Interstate 75.
Then Florida Highway Patrol received a report about a dog near the highway.
Trooper Orlando Morales responded.
Beside I-75, he found a bull terrier standing in water that reached roughly to his chest. The dog was caught at a fence as residents were leaving ahead of the hurricane.
The scene quickly became one of the most widely shared animal-rescue images from the storm.
Cars were moving away from danger.
The dog could not.
The Dog Was Frightened When the Trooper Approached
Video from the rescue showed the dog barking and growling as Morales moved closer.
That response was understandable.
The animal was standing in water beside a highway during severe weather. An unfamiliar person was approaching, and the dog had no way to understand what was happening.
Instead of treating the barking as aggression alone, Morales continued speaking calmly.
Eventually, he was able to get the dog out.
Florida Highway Patrol later shared the rescue publicly, urging people not to leave pets behind during evacuations.
The bull terrier survived.
Soon, he had a new name.
Trooper.
His Name Honored the Man Who Reached Him
The rescued dog had previously been called Jumbo.
After the highway rescue, he became known as Trooper, a name honoring the Florida Highway Patrol officer who brought him to safety.
The change also made the dog an easily recognizable symbol of a larger problem.
During disasters, animals depend almost completely on the people responsible for them.
They cannot read evacuation orders.
They cannot reserve hotel rooms.
Nor can they remove a tether, drive themselves away from floodwater, or decide which emergency shelter will accept them.
Those decisions belong to people.
For Trooper, one person had to arrive before the rising water became even more dangerous.
An Investigation Followed the Rescue
Florida authorities began investigating how Trooper had ended up beside I-75.
Several days later, officers arrested his former owner, Giovanny Aldama Garcia of Ruskin, on an aggravated animal cruelty charge.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced the arrest on October 15, 2024. Its statement said Trooper had been found in floodwater up to his chest while residents were evacuating ahead of Milton.
At the time, the arrest became another major part of the story.
State officials publicly emphasized that leaving an animal in dangerous storm conditions could carry consequences.
However, that criminal case later took an important turn.
The 2024 Charge Was Later Dropped
Because Trooper’s story has continued to circulate, the later legal development matters.
In October 2025, prosecutors dropped the aggravated animal cruelty charge against Garcia.
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office said evidence developed during discovery did not give prosecutors a sufficient basis to prove that Garcia had intentionally tied the dog to the fence in rising floodwater. According to the office, later testimony indicated that Trooper’s collar had become stuck on the fence and that no rope or chain was present.
The dismissal did not erase the fact that Trooper had been found in dangerous conditions and rescued during an evacuation.
Still, it changed what could responsibly be said about criminal responsibility in that particular case.
Garcia had been arrested and charged.
He was not convicted.
Trooper’s Rescue Had Already Started a Wider Conversation
Long before the 2024 case was dismissed, photographs and video of Trooper had spread nationwide.
The image was difficult to ignore.
A dog stood in deep water.
A hurricane was approaching.
The highway beside him was part of an evacuation route.
For lawmakers, animal advocates, and members of the public, the rescue raised an obvious question.
What should Florida law say specifically about someone who restrains a dog outside during a disaster and then leaves?
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers took up that issue.
The result was Senate Bill 150.
Florida Lawmakers Created “Trooper’s Law”
The measure was officially named Trooper’s Law.
Florida’s Senate summary states that the legislation created a new crime for a person who restrains a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandons the animal.
The offense is a third-degree felony.
It is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
The bill passed the Florida Senate 39-0 and the House 109-0, according to the Legislature’s summary.
DeSantis signed the measure on May 28, 2025.
It took effect October 1 of that year.
The Law Is More Specific Than “Never Leave a Pet Behind”
The details matter.
Trooper’s Law does not simply make every difficult pet-related decision during a storm a felony.
Florida Statute 828.13 defines the conduct more precisely.
The felony provision applies when a person restrains a dog outside during a natural disaster and thereafter abandons the dog. Restraint includes attaching the animal to a stationary object or trolley system using a chain, rope, tether, leash, cable, or similar device.
For purposes of the law, a qualifying natural disaster includes a hurricane, tropical storm, or tornado warning in the relevant county or municipality. It also includes situations when the area is under a mandatory or voluntary evacuation order.
Florida law separately contains broader provisions dealing with animal abandonment and inadequate care.
The felony provision created by Trooper’s Law, however, specifically addresses restrained dogs during disasters.
By October 2026, Florida Was Facing Another Hurricane
A year after the law took effect, another major storm approached the state.
Hurricane Isaias strengthened as it neared the Gulf Coast in early October 2026.
On October 9, state officials were urging people in threatened areas to complete preparations and follow evacuation orders. The storm later made landfall near Destin that evening.
During those preparations, the lesson from Trooper resurfaced.
Pet owners evacuating from dangerous areas needed a plan for their animals too.
And this time, Florida had a law bearing Trooper’s name already in force.
Florida Also Urged Businesses to Make Evacuation Easier for Pet Owners
Finding somewhere to go with a dog or cat can complicate evacuation.
That does not make leaving the animal behind a safe solution.
During the Isaias response, Florida officials said the Department of Business and Professional Regulation had worked with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association to encourage lodging businesses to relax pet policies and waive pet fees for evacuees.
Florida emergency officials also maintain local shelter information for all counties.
However, residents are advised to check the specific shelter arrangements in their area before leaving home. Florida’s Division of Emergency Management notes that most general public shelters do not automatically allow household pets, so owners should identify pet-friendly options in advance.
State law requires counties that maintain designated emergency shelters to designate a shelter that can accommodate people with pets.
Planning early remains important because actual shelter openings can vary by storm.
Trooper, Meanwhile, Needed a Place to Recover
After his rescue in 2024, Trooper’s immediate danger was over.
That did not mean he was ready to move into just any home.
The Leon County Humane Society became involved in his care.
According to the organization, Trooper initially showed significant discomfort in some meetings, particularly around unfamiliar circumstances.
That was not surprising.
A dog who has experienced major disruption may need time before his normal behavior becomes clear.
The rescue therefore treated finding a permanent family as more than a publicity opportunity.
Many people wanted him.
The organization still needed the right match.
Frank and Carla Had Experience With Bull Terriers
Eventually, a couple named Frank and Carla Spina applied to adopt him.
They were not new to the breed.
According to a later account shared by Leon County Humane Society, the couple had decades of experience with bull terriers. They already lived with another rescued bull terrier named Dallas.
That experience mattered.
Trooper had become famous.
Fame alone does not make a dog easy to place.
A responsible adoption still needs to account for temperament, household structure, other pets, training, and the adopter’s ability to handle problems that may emerge later.
The Spinas appeared prepared for that responsibility.
Trooper Responded Differently to Them
When Frank and Carla met Trooper, shelter staff noticed a change.
Leon County Humane Society later wrote that Trooper, who could appear tense in other meetings, seemed comfortable with the couple.
He accepted a toy.
Then he moved between them and the shelter staff, seeking attention.
The meeting went well enough that the rescue moved to the next important step.
Introducing Dallas.
The Two Bull Terriers Met Face to Face
Dallas was another rescue.
She was older than Trooper and had recently lost a canine companion.
When she entered the meeting area, the dogs approached each other.
According to Leon County Humane Society, Trooper and Dallas ran together, pressed their foreheads against one another, and wagged enthusiastically.
The rescue did not rely on one emotional moment alone.
A second meeting followed about a week later.
Again, the interaction went well.
That consistency helped confirm the match.
In December 2024, the Rescue Shared the News
Leon County Humane Society announced Trooper’s adoption on December 2, 2024.
Frank and Carla had prepared their home for him.
They also had a trainer available to help with the transition.
Soon after Trooper arrived, the family sent the rescue a photograph.
The dog who had once been standing in floodwater beside an interstate was stretched out on a couch.
No highway.
No storm.
No rising water.
Just a dog resting inside a home.
His New Life Was Deliberately Ordinary
Later updates showed Trooper continuing to settle with the Spina family.
He had Dallas.
He had people familiar with the breed.
And he had a household prepared to give him structure rather than expecting his past to disappear overnight.
Frank Spina later described Trooper as doing well and encouraged other people moved by the story to consider adopting dogs in shelters and rescues.
That part of Trooper’s story is easy to overlook because the rescue video was so dramatic.
Yet the ordinary days afterward matter just as much.
A rescue gets an animal out of immediate danger.
A stable home gives the animal somewhere to go next.
Trooper Became More Than the Dog in the Floodwater
By 2025, his name had moved into Florida law.
The governor’s office explicitly said Senate Bill 150 was inspired by the dog left in Hurricane Milton’s path and rescued by Florida Highway Patrol.
Florida’s official recognition of Trooper Morales also described the rescue and the legislation that followed.
The state noted that Morales found the dog in floodwater along I-75 during the Milton evacuation and that the dog later joined a new family.
That gave “Trooper” two meanings.
One was the dog.
The other was the law created after his rescue.
The Law Cannot Make Every Evacuation Easy
Hurricanes create complicated situations.
Families may have only hours to leave.
Hotels fill.
Traffic slows.
Animals become frightened.
A dog may resist entering a car or carrier.
Large animals present even more difficult transportation problems.
Still, emergency planning for pets needs to begin before the evacuation order arrives.
Florida emergency officials advise residents to identify pet-friendly shelter options in advance and include animals in their evacuation planning.
For pet owners, that can mean keeping carriers accessible, updating identification, storing veterinary information, preparing medication, and knowing where animals will go if the home must be evacuated.
The worst time to make the entire plan is when floodwater is already rising.
Trooper Could Not Make That Plan for Himself
That may be the simplest part of the story.
Trooper did not understand Hurricane Milton.
He did not know why traffic was moving away from Tampa.
Nor could he understand the legal case, the public outrage, the legislative debate, or the law eventually named after him.
He knew only the conditions around him.
Water.
Rain.
A fence.
An unfamiliar trooper approaching.
Later came shelter staff.
Then Frank and Carla.
Dallas.
A couch.
Those were the parts of the story available to the dog himself.
Everything else belonged to people.
Two Years Later, the Warning Had a Name Behind It
When Florida officials again warned residents not to leave pets in dangerous storm conditions during Hurricane Isaias in October 2026, Trooper was no longer the stranded dog beside I-75.
He had already gone home.
The law inspired by his rescue had also been in force for more than a year.
Under that law, intentionally restraining a dog outside during a qualifying disaster and then abandoning it can now bring a felony charge carrying up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The statute cannot guarantee that no dog will ever be left behind.
But it gives Florida a specific legal response to conduct lawmakers decided deserved stronger punishment.
The Photograph From Trooper’s New Home Told the Other Half of the Story
The rescue video showed what emergency responders were trying to prevent.
A dog with nowhere to go as dangerous weather approached.
The photograph from his new family showed something much quieter.
Trooper on a couch.
That image required no dramatic interpretation.
He had shelter.
He had people responsible for him.
He had another dog in the home.
Most importantly, he was no longer beside the highway waiting for someone else to decide what happened next.
Trooper’s Story Now Belongs to Two Hurricanes
Hurricane Milton made him known.
Hurricane Isaias brought the lesson back into public view.
During the first storm, a highway patrol officer found a frightened bull terrier in dangerous conditions and got him out.
By the time the second storm approached, Florida had changed its law.
For residents, the message was practical.
If evacuation becomes necessary, pets need a plan too.
Take them.
Arrange care.
Find a pet-friendly shelter or other safe destination.
Do not leave a restrained dog outdoors to face a hurricane alone.
The Dog Who Inspired the Law Was Already Safe
Trooper’s life did not end with the viral video.
Nor did it end with an arrest, a legislative bill, or a governor’s signature.
Those were human events surrounding him.
His own outcome was much smaller.
Frank and Carla brought him home.
Dallas was there.
The shelter soon received a picture of him resting on the couch.
Two years earlier, floodwater had reached his chest beside an interstate while a hurricane approached.
Now his name is written into Florida law.
But for Trooper himself, the most important change may be the one no statute can describe.
When another storm comes, he has somewhere safe to be.
