PARKLAND, Fla. – He’s a real trooper.
One year ago, an abandoned Bull Terrier was left for dead, chained to a fence along Tampa’s Interstate 75 as storm surges from Hurricane Milton rushed around the poor pup.
An equally gut-wrenching and heartwarming viral video captured Florida Highway Patrol Officer Orlando Morales saving the deserted dog – since given the name “Trooper” in his honor. Trooper has since found a new, loving home one year after Milton wreaked havoc across the Sunshine State.
Trooper was left for dead, chained to a fence on the side of Interstate 75 near Tampa, Florida when Hurricane Milton made landfall one year ago. (Credit: @FHPTampa / X / FOX Weather)
Like millions across the globe, Carla and Frank Spina watched the viral video of Trooper.
On Wednesday, Frank Spina and Trooper joined FOX Weather to discuss the journey and recovery from Hurricane Milton and the road to the happy home that Trooper now resides in Parkland.
“Me and my wife had made up our minds that we were going to save Trooper,” Frank Spina said.
The Spina family was one of 450 applicants that sought to rescue Trooper after his story took the internet by storm. After the storm settled, the Leon County Humane Society reached out to the Spina family to rescue the abandoned Bull Terrier with one concern: Due to the extended abuse he faced from his previous owner, Trooper “recoiled” and “snapped” at males, which fueled concerns about how Trooper would get along with Frank.
Having raised Bull Terriers since 1993, Frank drove the 7.5 hours to Tallahassee to the Leon County Humane Society, where he met Trooper in person for the first time. Evidently, the concerns about how Trooper and Frank have since been squashed.
In the one year since Trooper was left abandoned on the side of the highway in Florida enduring the impacts of Hurricane Milton, he has found a new happy home with Frank Spina in Parkland. (Credit: FOX Weather)
According to Spina, when Trooper officially joined the family around 10 months ago, he had a number of injuries and ailments including cancer, two large tumors and starvation-related stomach health complications, among other serious traumas.
A silver-lining to the deadly hurricane that made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm and resulted in over $30 billion in damages, the lasting impact of Trooper’s story is now written into law.
One year since the tragedy, Trooper’s touching story inspired Trooper’s Law, which makes abandoning an animal during a natural disaster a felony offense in the state of Florida.
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