They found the bull terrier tied to a fence on the interstate, the floodwater already up to his chest, with a Category 3 hurricane just hours away from making landfall.
On October 9th, 2024, as over a million Floridians fled their homes, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Orlando Morales spotted something on the side of I-75 in Tampa that made him pull over immediately. A white bull terrier was tethered to a fence, unable to escape the rising water that was already halfway up his body. Hurricane Milton was hours away, and whoever owned this dog had left him there to die.
Morales waded through the water toward the terrified animal. The dog was barking, shaking, confused about why his family had driven away and never come back. “It’s OK, buddy,” the trooper said softly. “I don’t blame you.”
The shelter named him “Trooper” to honor what he survived. But he was broken. He refused to eat. He cowered when men approached. Whatever his life had been before, it had taught him that humans were not to be trusted.
Then Frank and Carla Spina, a couple from Parkland with 33 years of bull terrier experience, saw the news story. Carla looked at her husband and said one thing: “We have to go get him.”
There was a problem. The shelter warned them Trooper was terrified of men. They weren’t sure it would work with Frank. The couple didn’t care. They drove seven hours to meet him anyway.
When Frank walked in, the staff told him to sit on a bench and wait. Trooper, the dog who had been failed by everyone, slowly walked over. He crawled under Frank’s legs, laid down, and let the stranger scratch his belly. His back leg started kicking with happiness.
One of the workers stared in disbelief. “It’s a match made in heaven,” she whispered. “You cast a spell on him.”
Trooper went home to Parkland that week. He now sleeps in Frank’s bedroom, plays with his new sister Dallas, and lives like the king he was always supposed to be.
“We are living in a dream,” Frank said. “A month ago we saw a news report, and now he’s in my bedroom.”
The dog who was chained to a fence and left for dead is finally home.
