A dog whose rescue from Hurricane Milton floodwaters went viral this week is now safe, dry and “decompressing,” according to the Florida animal shelter now in charge of his care.
The male bull terrier was seen in a Wednesday video from the Florida Highway Patrol , standing chest-deep in water next to a fence off the side of the road north of Tampa as Hurricane Milton closed in on the region. The agency wrote that the dog had been “left tied to a pole.”
A highway trooper could be heard speaking reassuringly the dog, and a follow-up photo showed the canine with a blanket in the back of a vehicle.
The dog ultimately ended up in the care of the Leon County Humane Society, which has been helping animals displaced by the hurricane. The nonprofit named the dog Trooper, “because of how much he’s been through and to honor those who saved him,” according to a Thursday social media post .
Trooper is “safe and sound” but “incredibly stressed and still decompressing,” the shelter wrote.