The bill, known as the “troopers’ law,” was inspired by a viral video of a dog tied to a pole during Hurricane Milton. If passed, the law will impose a five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine. Bill is gathering support from animal welfare organizations and lawmakers on both parties.
The bill banning the waiver of outside pets during natural disasters was prompted by a viral video of a bull terrier approaching a hurricane last year, but approved it on Tuesday when it met its first hurdle in Congress. .
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee approved the bill 8-0 in a brief hearing in Tallahassee. The bill sponsor and his colleagues in the Senate were named after a dog tied up to a water 75 along Interstate 75 near Tampa before Florida Highway Patrol troopers saved him. It was called the “Trooper Law.”
The Animal Control Society, the American Humane Society and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office supported the bill. So did Sen. Jason Pizzo of Hollywood, one of the Democrats on the Republican-led committee.
“A great bill, a great idea…thank you for bringing this very good bill, sir,” Pizzo told Sen. Don Gotz of R-Pensacola, who sponsored the bill during discussions at the hearing.
The bill will increase penalties for using detention and abandoning an animal during a natural disaster, making it a three-degree felony that could lead to a five-year sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.
The bill will take effect on July 1st if passed. The House of Representatives, introduced by Philip Griffitts of R-Panama City and Susan Plasencia of R-Winter Park, has a companion bill.
The dog was tied up near Interstate 75 during the hurricane
The bill is the result of a heartfelt story after a Florida man left a bull terrier tied to Paul as Category 5 Hurricane Milton approached Florida in October.
Highway patrols found that the dog is shaking and suffering – tied to the poles of the standing water. The agency posted a video on social media showing a black and white dog tied up in an area where floods almost cover their legs. The video went viral and the dog was lovingly renamed the Trooper.
Investigators called the dog Jubany Aldama Garcia, 23, of Ruskin, owned the dog, but it was a puppy and had failed to remove it for weeks.
Aldama Garcia’s mother, Mabel Garcia Gomez, 53, stopped at I-75 on Wednesday during a hectic rains to Georgia before a heavy hurricane, and his dog was pulled out of the car, according to court records. I’ve kicked it out. Aldama Garcia said he saw the dog on the water at the end and left it behind.
The trooper was later adopted by a South Florida family.
___This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Reporters can contact atgvelasquezneira@ufl.edu.
