DeSantis announces arrest of former owner of dog whose Highway Patrol rescue went viral

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Tuesday that the former owner of a dog who was rescued by Highway Patrol as Hurricane Milton made landfall has been arrested and will be charged with animal cruelty.

“We had somebody decide, as Hurricane Milton approached, that it would somehow be a good thing to take his dog and chain it to a post on the interstate,” DeSantis said during a press conference at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

A Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper, Orlando Morales, took video of the dog, unable to move from the fence, standing in a pool of water as Milton headed toward land.

DeSantis said the dog had been renamed “Trooper” and was now in Tallahassee, where he will be adopted. The governor called the former owners’ actions “totally unacceptable.”

He said that authorities had identified the dog’s former owner, and State Attorney Suzy Lopez would be assigned to the case. She will be pursuing animal cruelty charges, DeSantis said.

In a release, Lopez’s office named the dog’s owner as Giovanny Garcia and said he was charged with aggravated animal cruelty after he admitted to leaving his dog on Interstate 75 when he was evacuating from Milton. Garcia told authorities that he left his dog, formerly named Jumbo, because he couldn’t find anyone to pick it up.

“We said you’d be held accountable, and you will be held accountable,” DeSantis said.

The story about Trooper made national headlines and sparked concern among pet-lovers and animal rights advocates alike.

The Leon County Human Society later confirmed the dog was safe at its facility after the FHP rescue.