A Florida man accused of tying his dog to a fence and abandoning it as Hurricane Milton approached the state is now charged with aggravated animal cruelty, authorities announced Tuesday.
Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, of Ruskin, was arrested Monday on felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said on X.
Thirteenth Circuit State Attorney Suzy Lopez is pursuing the charges against Garcia, who admitted leaving his dog on the highway as he evacuated the state in anticipation of Milton, the state attorney’s office said in a statement.
“In Hillsborough County, we take animal cruelty very seriously,” Lopez said in the statement. “This defendant is charged with a felony and could face up to five years in prison for his actions.”
No attorney was listed for Garcia, who was released on bond, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office inmate records.
Attempts to reach Garcia through a phone number listed as his were unsuccessful, and there was no immediate response Tuesday night to an email to an address listed as his requesting comment. Calls to numbers listed as his parents' went unreturned.
Lopez said she doesn't think five years in prison is enough time and hopes lawmakers "take a look at this case and discuss changing the law to allow for harsher penalties for people who abandon their animals during a state of emergency."
The investigation is "active and ongoing," and no other information is available, Dave Kerner, executive director of the Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department, said in a statement.
Kerner added that the department is "grateful for the unprecedented support of State Attorney Suzy Lopez and her prosecutors, particularly during a state of emergency."
Florida Highway Patrol officers found the dog, now known as Trooper, Wednesday in Tampa on Interstate 75 "in flood waters up to his chest" as Floridians were evacuating in anticipation of Milton’s making landfall, Kerner said. Trooper was marked safe and healthy after highway patrol officers took him to the vet.
Trooper was facing "sure death" when he the trooper found him, Lopez said at a news conference Tuesday alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The state attorney's office statement said Garcia told investigators he abandoned his dog on his way to Georgia because he "couldn't find anyone to pick the dog up."
A trooper got a tip about the abandoned dog and eventually found him on the side of the highway. The dog is now safe and will not be returned to Garcia, the statement said.
NBC affiliate WFLA of Tampa reported that Garcia went to the Hillsborough County Animal Shelter on Friday looking to claim his dog, the highway patrol said in an affidavit. His information was shared with the sheriff's office in Leon County, where the dog was taken.
According to the affidavit, Garcia said that if the dog's foster owner would take care of it and love it, he would give up ownership, WFLA reported.
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