TAMPA, Fla., (WFLA) – State lawmakers are one step nearer to creating it a felony to desert a canine throughout a pure catastrophe.
Trooper’s Regulation was impressed by a Bull Terrier, Trooper, who was found abandoned and chained to the facet of the I-75 close to Tampa throughout Hurricane Milton.
This invoice contains some extreme penalties for anybody who abandons a canine throughout a pure catastrophe, together with as much as 5 years in jail and a $10,000 tremendous.
Florida lawmakers are doing what they’ll to assist shield our four-legged buddies, particularly canines.
“We even had some jack*** chain a canine to a pole because the storm was coming,” stated Governor DeSantis in October of 2024.
The canine was caught within the rising flood waters off of I-75 close to Tampa by the Florida Freeway Patrol after a trooper noticed him.
“Florida Freeway Patrol rescued the canine, it is now in Tallahassee, truthfully, it is a good canine, however I imply, it is traumatized from that,” DeSantis stated.
This invoice, Trooper’s Regulation, handed the Senate unanimously. It will make a third-degree felony to desert a canine exterior throughout pure disasters.
Helps of this invoice stated a regulation to guard canines in conditions like that is overdue.
“If you happen to’re a pet proprietor, like me, you understand you’ll do something to guard your pet. We ought to be defending our pets throughout a storm, not leaving them for useless,” stated Suzy Lopez, through the fall of 2024.
Trooper is now in a loving dwelling, one thing lawmakers are hoping occurs for every canine.
Trooper’s former owner, Giovanny Garcia, was charged with animal cruelty.
If Trooper’s Regulation passes the Home and is signed into regulation, it will take impact on October 1, 2025.
