Dog abandoned before hurricane suffers health scares as owner faces criminal case

TAMPA — A judge on Thursday pushed back a criminal case that went viral over a man accused of abandoning his bull terrier tied to a fence along Interstate 75 in the face of an approaching major hurricane.

Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, of Ruskin is facing a felony aggravated animal cruelty charge in a case that drew the attention of Gov. Ron DeSantis, national outrage — and a proposed new state law in Florida. He faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“You don’t just tie up a dog and have them out there for a storm,” DeSantis said after Aldama Garcia’s arrest in October. “It’s totally unacceptable and we’re going to hold you accountable.”

Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez, whose office is prosecuting Aldama Garcia, previously called herself a dog owner and dog lover and said tying a pet to a fence ahead of a hurricane was impossible for her to imagine.

On Thursday, in a brief hearing in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Judge G. Gregory Green set the date for the next stage of the case to be March 31. Aldama Garcia had previously notified the judge he did not plan to attend the hearing and would be represented by his defense lawyer, Tony Lopez of Tampa. Lopez wasn’t available after the hearing to discuss the case against his client.

The dog, renamed Trooper in honor of the Florida Highway Patrol officer who rescued him, was adopted by a family in South Florida, Frank and Carla Spina of Parkland, and underwent successful surgery in December to remove two cancerous tumors on his left side.

Then, last month, there was a new crisis in Trooper’s life: X-rays showed a foreign substance in Trooper’s stomach after the dog vomited a small piece of rubber. A specialist veterinary surgeon from Miami, Randy Dominguez, operated Feb. 1 for three hours and extracted about 2 pounds of plastic and rubber material from Trooper’s stomach, Dominguez said.

“It was very challenging,” the veterinarian said. “You don’t really do that. You get in, you see that amount of garbage and you stop right there and convert to open surgery. But I took my chances and moved forward.”

Dominguez said he used an endoscopy, which is less invasive than stomach surgery and allowed Trooper to recover more quickly.

“The dog had suffered enough already,” Dominguez said.

Frank Spina said he believed the dog ate the foreign matter because Aldama Garcia didn’t adequately feed him before abandoning him. The dog was back home and recovering this week.

“Trooper was full of garbage,” Spina wrote on social media. “That creep who abused him apparently was starving him also.” He added, “My best friend Trooper is home.”

Parkland Mayor Rich Walker expects to honor Trooper during a ceremony at the City Hall meeting Feb. 19.

Trooper’s plight is also provoking action in the Capitol. Lawmakers in Tallahassee are considering legislation that would make it specifically illegal to abandon a dog that is restrained during a natural disaster. The bill, which would take effect July 1 if passed, would impose a fine up to $10,000 and a prison term up to five years — what Aldama Garcia is already facing under the felony aggravated animal cruelty charge.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee will hold a hearing on its version of the bill Tuesday.

“People need to understand that when we say we’re pro life as Republicans, that’s all life, and an animal’s life is worth something as well,” said former Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, who introduced a version of the bill before he resigned to run unsuccessfully for Congress.

Rudman’s bill was scrapped and replaced with one by Reps. Phillip Griffitts, R-Panama City, and Susan Plasencia, R-Winter Park. Rudman, a guitarist, said he is performing at a charity event Thursday at Bowden’s in Tallahassee to raise money for the Alaqua Animal Refuge.

As Hurricane Milton approached, Aldama Garcia’s mother, Mabel Garcia Gomez, 53, had stopped their car on I-75 during the family’s evacuation to Georgia from heavy rain, letting the dog out of the vehicle, according to court records. Aldama Garcia said he last saw the dog in standing water and left it behind.

Investigators said Aldama Garcia had owned the dog, which he called Jumbo, since it was a puppy and had been trying unsuccessfully to get rid of it for weeks. “He could not deal with the dog,” the arrest report said.

Jessica Ellen Ospina, 36, of Apollo Beach made the original call to law enforcement and is a witness for the prosecution in Aldama Garcia’s case.

“ If you choose to take responsibility of an animal, then you take responsibility of that animal just as you choose to take responsibility of a child,” Ospina said in an interview this week. “And if you can’t do that, then you sure shouldn’t go tie him up to a post when a … hurricane’s coming to hit.”

The Highway Patrol found the dog — trembling and in distress — tied to a pole in standing water. The agency posted a video on social media showing the black-and-white dog tied in an area where floodwater almost covered its legs.

The penalties spelled out under the legislative proposals could be a deterrent, said Amy Wade-Carotenuto, executive director at the Flagler Humane Society in Palm Coast.

“​It makes it very clear to people, ‘Don’t even think about it,’” she said.

This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporters can be reached at gvelasquezneira@ufl.edu and ellathompson@ufl.edu.You can donate to support our students here.