Florida Man Arrested After Allegedly Leaving Dog Tied to Fence Before Hurricane Milton

A 23-year-old antheral successful Florida has been charged with carnal cruelty aft allegedly leaving his canine tied to a obstruction arsenic radical were evacuating for Hurricane Milton, according to a property merchandise from the authorities attorney. The canine went viral aft footage showed the canine on Interstate 75 adjacent Tampa lasting successful h2o up to its belly, intelligibly terrified, earlier it was rescued by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper.

Giovanny Aldama Garcia of Ruskin, Florida, has been arrested and charged with aggravated carnal cruelty, a 3rd grade felony, according to State Attorney Suzy Lopez, who made the announcement astatine a property league with Florida Gov. DeSantis on Tuesday. Garcia allegedly admitted to leaving his favored connected the broadside of the roadworthy “because helium couldn’t find anyone to prime the canine up.” It’s not wide wherefore helium tied the canine up to a obstruction successful lasting water.

Someone reportedly saw the canine determination successful distress during the evacuations and alerted Florida Highway Patrol trooper Orlando Morales. The canine was primitively named Jumbo but has been renamed Trooper, according to the Florida Highway Patrol’s societal media accounts.

Trooper has been cared for by the Leon County Humane Society and is presently with a foster family, according to the organization’s Facebook page, which notes “there are thousands of dogs who merit this aforesaid level of attention, care, and advocacy, and anticipation that Trooper’s concern inspires a kinder aboriginal for each dogs.”

“In Hillsborough County, we instrumentality carnal cruelty precise seriously,” Lopez said successful a statement. “This suspect is charged with a felony and could look up to 5 years successful situation for his actions. Quite frankly, I don’t deliberation that is enough.”

Lopez said she believes the magnitude of jailhouse clip for this benignant of maltreatment should beryllium adjacent longer than 5 years, though little than 5 years is emblematic for astir states erstwhile it comes to carnal cruelty penalties.

“Hopefully, lawmakers instrumentality a look astatine this lawsuit and sermon changing the instrumentality to let for harsher penalties for radical who wantonness their animals during a authorities of emergency,” Lopez continued.

Hurricane Milton, which made landfall connected October 10 arsenic a Category 3 aft weakening from a Category 5 successful the Gulf of Mexico, killed astatine slightest 28 people, with six radical inactive missing arsenic of Wednesday. Almost 4 cardinal radical mislaid powerfulness successful Florida during the hurricane but astir 97% of the authorities has functional powerfulness again, according to the Herald-Tribune. That leaves astir 369,000 homes successful Central Florida inactive struggling without power.

Hurricane Milton was really the 2nd large hurricane successful a abbreviated timespan to deed Florida, coming straight connected the heels of Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 tempest which followed a antithetic path, heading northbound into states similar North Carolina wherever it did sizeable harm to the occidental portion of that state. At slightest 92 people are inactive missing from Hurricane Helene according to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Helene killed 243 people, with 118 deaths successful North Carolina alone.