PETITION TARGET: Thirteenth Circuit State Attorney Suzy Lopez
A dog was found trembling in fear, standing in chest-high water, and unable to free himself because he was tethered to a fence along a Florida highway — just hours before Hurricane Milton was set to make landfall, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) received a call from a woman who spotted the dog along busy Interstate 75. When Trooper Orlando Morales arrived to the area and found the tethered dog in a pool of water, he gently approached the terrified dog, whose fear can be seen and heard on video released by FHP Tampa.
Trooper Morales described the dog as “in severe distress and trembling,” according to a criminal report reviewed by CBS News Miami.
Fittingly renamed Trooper, the rescued dog is now safe with a foster family.
The man allegedly responsible for abandoning Trooper along the highway — as he was driving himself to Georgia for safety ahead of the hurricane — was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty.
Trooper faced “sure death,” said Thirteenth Circuit State Attorney Suzy Lopez, who is overseeing the case, per NBC News. “This defendant is charged with a felony and could face up to five years in prison for his actions,” said Lopez.
Now we need to be Trooper’s voices and help secure him justice.
Sign our petition asking State Attorney Lopez to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law and seek the maximum five-year sentence. We also request any other animals in the alleged perpetrator’s care to be removed for their safety, and for a lifelong ban on having animals to be instituted.
