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A case docket hadn't yet been posted online so it was unknown if
he had an attorney.
The dog, nicknamed Trooper by the Florida Highway Patrol, was
found alive last Wednesday 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 him to a vet, where he was examined for
injuries and received a clean bill of health.
“We take this crime very seriously and this defendant will face
the consequences of his actions,” said State Attorney Suzy
Lopez, whose jurisdiction covers the Tampa area.
A trooper who located the dog based on a description from a
witness driving by described him as “in severe distress and
trembling,” according to a redacted criminal report.
“Traffic was heavy as many people were evacuating,” the trooper
wrote in the arrest report. “Due to the circumstances, and the
extreme danger and risk of death caused by the defendant to the
dog, the defendant’s actions caused excessive unnecessary
infliction of pain and suffering to the dog.”
Investigators were able to track down the owner after he went to
a Tampa area animal shelter looking for his dog, who had been
moved to a shelter in Tallahassee and then placed with a foster
family. The owner agreed to give up the dog to the foster family
provided “they would take good care and love the dog,” the
arrest report said.
During an interview with the trooper, the owner waived his right
to remain silent and gave a statement which was redacted in the
report.
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