Florida officials have arrested the man who left his dog tied to a post in floodwaters ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall.
Florida state troopers found the dog last week, abandoned on the side of Interstate-75 in Tampa with flood waters up to his chest. The Florida highway patrol shared a video at the time of the bodycam footage and a caption: “Do NOT do this to your pets please … ”
On Monday the former owner, Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, of Ruskin, Florida, was arrested for aggravated animal cruelty.
“On Wednesday, October 9, 2024, a dog, now known as Trooper, was found abandoned in flood waters up to his chest on Interstate-75 in Tampa while many residents were evacuating before Hurricane Milton.
Based upon a subsequent criminal investigation, State Troopers secured and… pic.twitter.com/br0jHNXeVY
— FLHSMV (@FLHSMV) October 15, 2024
The dog has been renamed from Jumbo to Trooper, the department of highway safety and motor vehicles said. At a news conference on Tuesday, Ron DeSantis said Trooper was currently in Tallahassee and will be adopted.
“The dog was very rattled from that experience,” the Florida governor said. “We said at the time, you don’t just tie up a dog and have them out there for a storm, totally unacceptable, and we’re gonna hold you accountable.”
According to online jail records reviewed by the Guardian, Aldama Garcia was released on a $2,500 cash bond on Tuesday after his Monday arrest. It is unclear when he is due in court for a hearing.
The office of Suzy Lopez, the state attorney who serves the 13th judicial circuit in Tampa and is overseeing this case, said in a news release that Aldama Garcia told investigators he was driving to Georgia to escape the hurricane but left his dog on the side of the road because he couldn’t find anyone to take him.
The dog was eventually rescued after a state trooper, Orlando Morales, got a tip from a driver. By the time he found the dog, the water had risen to the animal’s neck.
According to ABC News, two days later Aldama Garcia went to a local animal shelter to retrieve the dog, bringing pictures as proof of ownership, but the dog turned out to be in a different shelter. Aldama Garcia told them that he’d surrender ownership “if the current foster will take good care and love the dog”, and filled out the required paperwork to give up the dog, according to the affidavit seen by ABC News.
“In Hillsborough county, we take animal cruelty very seriously” Lopez said. “This defendant is charged with a felony and could face up to five years in prison for his actions. Quite frankly, I don’t think that is enough. Hopefully, lawmakers take a look at this case and discuss changing the law to allow for harsher penalties for people who abandon their animals during a state of emergency.”
Lopez also thanked Morales: “He’s an animal lover and father to a rescue dog himself. Thank you for your dedication to all of our residents – including the four-legged ones.”
