A dog tied to a fence on the side of a Florida highway during Hurricane Milton has now become immortalized.
The story of Trooper the dog has inspired the new “Trooper’s Law,” which would make it a felony to abandon a dog during a natural disaster.
Trooper’s family shares about how he’s doing and how his namesake law can help
Frank Spina can’t keep his new dog, Trooper, off of him.
Trooper has come a long way since the Florida Highway Patrol found the bull terrier tied to a pole along Interstate 75 during Hurricane Milton last year. That video went viral and the story made it on CBS News This Morning.
Spina told CBS News Miami that Trooper is still recovering from the trauma of that storm.
“He still has a little bit of PTSD, I would say,” Spina said. “He reacts when he hears certain noises. He reacts and jumps into the air, he’s frightened by it. And certain things will actually scare him, but they’re becoming less and less.”
Spina said that after he saw that video, he knew he had to adopt Trooper. But he found out he wasn’t the only person who had seen that video. S, he told CBS News Miami that once he applied to adopt him, he found out he was one of about 400 other people who wanted him.
But once Spina first met him, he knew that Trooper had made his choice.
“He came running over and got under my legs, flipped upside down and I was scratching him,” Spina said. “And any from the humane society said to my wife, ‘Your husband has just cast a spell on him.'”
Spina said Trooper needed medical treatment — he had cancer and doctors found several pounds of trash in his stomach.
“Metal, aluminum bolts, plastic rubber material and it was all kind of in one big ball,” Spina said.
Trooper’s old owner was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty. Moving forward, anyone who restrains and abandons an animal in a natural disaster in Florida could face third-degree felony charges, as part of the new “Trooper’s Law.” That law took effect this week.
“Do I think that a person who’s about to abuse a dog will say, ‘Well, I better not do this because of Trooper’s Law passed?’ No, I think that person will abuse that dog because that’s in their character to do that. The difference is now he’s going to jail,” Spina said.
Trooper’s name is fitting, since he survived the storm, it’s also a title because he was given a badge by FHP, making him “Trooper Trooper.”
