TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — Frank Spina and his dog Trooper are an unbreakable bond.
Spina adopted Trooper in December of 2024. But you may have seen Trooper before he was adopted.
Trooper's story made national headlines in October, just as Hurricane Milton was coming towards Tampa.
Trooper was found tied up and abandoned in belly high water on Interstate 75 amid the chaos of evacuations.
A Florida trooper spotted Trooper, and rescued him before it was too late.
Frank Spina's wife showed him an article about the dog at the time.
"My wife’s friend had seen it online, and she emailed it to my wife saying, 'Oh, my God, what do you think of this?'” Spina shared. “When she got home from work, she showed me the phone. I said, ‘We have to go get him.’”
The Spina's drove from South Florida to Tallahassee to adopt the dog. They were told Trooper was abused by a male and struggled to bond with men. However, Spina says the minute Trooper saw him, the bond was unbreakable.
"When I met him, he ran under my legs. He was upside down, and I was scratching him," he recalled. "And they were shaking their heads, they said, 'It's a match made in heaven, you cast the spell over him.'"
Once Trooper joined the Spina family, other issues arose.
Trooper had a cancerous tumor removed. Veterinarians also discovered his stomach was full of trash he had eaten.
“They removed over a hundred pieces of garbage from his stomach,” Spina recalled, describing a mix of metal, plastic, rubber, and foam.
Now, Trooper is doing well.
He's the namesake for a proposed bill in the Florida Legislature that seeks to make restraining and abandoning pets during natural disasters a third degree felony.
“It kind of makes the struggle that he went through have some value,” Frank explained, hopeful that the legislation will deter similar acts of cruelty in the future.
Sherry Silk, the CEO of the Tampa Bay Humane Society, emphasized the importance of accountability for pet owners.
"That pet is part of your family. You certainly wouldn't allow your grandmother, your child, or anybody else to stay behind," she stated. “You shouldn't ever allow your animals to be left behind in one of those storms.”
In recent years, there has been an increase in pet-friendly hotels and storm shelters, providing options for families to keep their pets safe.
However, shelters like the Tampa Bay Humane Society often run at or near capacity.
“If we have like six cages left, we’re going to take in those six dogs, but once we’re out of cage space, just like every other shelter, there’s nothing we can do,” Silk said.
As the bill moves through the legislative process, supporters hope it will provide justice and help hold irresponsible pet owners accountable.
Trooper’s former owner is currently facing aggravated cruelty charges for leaving him behind.
“There’s a price to be paid for that, and we’ll be there,” Spina vowed. “Victim number one will be there to see that justice gets done.”
If the bill passes, it'll go into law on Oct. 1, 2025.
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