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U.S.|No Pets Left Behind: How a Dog’s Hurricane Rescue Changed Florida Law
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/us/trooper-dog-florida-law-hurricane-milton.html
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A state trooper went to the aid of a bull terrier who had been abandoned as Hurricane Milton approached. Now the dog, named Trooper, is thriving, and his story inspired stricter animal protections.
Aug. 2, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET
Hurricane Milton was barreling toward 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.
When Trooper Morales responded, he was skeptical 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 OK buddy, it’s OK,” Trooper Morales said in a gentle tone to the growling dog, according to police video.
“I don’t blame you. It’s OK,” 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 savior, has been thriving in his new home in suburban Parkland, Fla., 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 felony.
