Charges Dropped Against Owner of Dog Found Left Behind in Hurricane Milton

Criminal charges have been dropped against a Florida man who authorities said abandoned his tied-up dog in floodwaters near a highway as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast last year shortly before Hurricane Milton made landfall.

The case led to legislation signed into law this year by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, enhancing penalties on people who abandon pets during natural disasters.

Tampa-area prosecutors on Wednesday filed a court notice that they were dropping charges against the 24-year-old man from Ruskin, Florida, who had faced a count of felony aggravated animal cruelty. The “nolle prosequi” notice usually is filed when there’s a lack of evidence or witnesses, and authorities told news media that they did not have enough evidence that the dog was intentionally tied up.

The bull terrier, nicknamed Trooper by the Florida Highway Patrol, was alive when he was found by a trooper in floodwaters up to his chest along Interstate 75 in the Tampa area as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast hours before the Category 3 hurricane made landfall. Troopers brought the dog to a vet, where he was examined for injuries and received a clean bill of health. He eventually was adopted by a couple in the Fort Lauderdale area.

“The facts as depicted in the video and the statements do not support the theory that the dog was attached to the fence in an intentional manner,” Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez’s office wrote in a memo viewed by WUFT TV news. “A failure to locate the dog during an emergency evacuation does not equate to a criminal failure to act.”

Trooper in an undated photo. (Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles via AP, file)