Florida Dog Abandoned in Hurricane Milton Is Rescued, Placed in Foster Care

The Florida dog whose image went viral after he was left trapped on the side of a highway ahead of Hurricane Milton was rescued and placed in foster care, a Tallahassee humane society announced in a happy update.

The Tampa office for Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) shared the upsetting story on Wednesday, posting a clip of the dog with his collar tied to a fence off of I-75, standing in chest-deep water:

“Do NOT do this to your pets please,” FHP officials wrote alongside the sad video, which garnered over 11.6 million views and thousands of comments shaming the unidentified owner of the dog. 

Arkansas storm tracker Zachary Hall suggested that the person who abandoned the dog face the same treatment:

“Perhaps we find the owner and the troopers can tie them to the pole and leave them? Just a suggestion,” he wrote on X. 

“I hope you find its (prior) owners and arrest them,” said MSNBC’s Katie Phang:

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) then posted a photo of the dog, safe and sound in the back of a trooper’s vehicle:

“Troopers brought him to a vet, where he was examined for injuries and received a clean bill of health,” FLHSMV added.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) thanked the FHP in another post:

“It is cruel for anyone to leave a dog tied to a post in the middle of an oncoming storm. FL will hold anyone who mistreats pets accountable,” he wrote.

After rumors that the dog was returned to its previous owners spread on social media, the Leon County Humane Society clarified that the dog — who is now named “Trooper” after the heroes who saved him — is in their care:

“It was an error – the same Trooper who brought him in to be looked over was the one who came back to pick him up for his transfer. Since he was released to the same person who brought him in, he was mistakenly listed as returned to owner, and later updated as transferred to law enforcement,” the Tallahassee-based society wrote on Facebook. “We confirmed that an original owner did not come forward.”

They also explained that they would not be immediately fulfilling the “dozens” of adoption requests they have received for Trooper because “he needs time to decompress in foster so that we can match him with the best fit possible so that he has the best transition into his forever home.”

The humane society also added that the governor’s office was the one who contacted them to get Trooper placed.

A photo of a second dog was later posted by the FLHSMV on Thursday, showing the FHP rescuing it from a flooded road:

Hurricane Milton has claimed the lives of at least 17 people in Florida, a death toll confirmed by the Tallahassee Democrat revealed.