The dog who was abandoned in October when Hurricane Milton made landfall near Tampa, Fla., has overcome yet another challenge.
Trooper, a 5-year-old bull terrier, was dumped in rising floodwaters and reportedly tied to a post in Tampa when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper rescued him. Once the dog was found, he quickly went viral and was adopted by his new forever family, Frank and Karla Spina, and their dog, Dallas.
“He’s my best friend and I think I’m his best friend,” Frank said. “I think my wife would agree that I would rather give my life and she would give her life, save his life.”
Soon after Trooper joined the Spina family, the couple noticed the bull terrier had two lumps on the left side of his body. “The doctor immediately said, ‘Oh no, these are mass cell tumors. These are cancer.’ So we were in a complete meltdown,” Frank told CBS News.
Trooper needed surgery, and his new owners were patiently waiting to see if he was okay.
“We don’t have children. These are our children,” Frank said of Trooper and Dallas. “And then we got that good news and … when we left the doctor’s office that day after he got his stitches out, the doctor said he’s done, he’s cancer free.”
“We were literally in tears, just walking to the car, happy tears,” Frank said.
However, Trooper still wasn’t completely healthy yet.
Frank explained that a few weeks later, Trooper had another health scare. Before his surgery, the veterinarian told the Spinas that Trooper seemed to have an object in his stomach, and they were told to monitor it. During a walk one day, Trooper put his head down, and then Frank “went under him and he vomited and a piece of rubber came out of his mouth.”
“So this is actually a freezer bag. This freezer bag weighs 2.1 pounds. It’s a combination of about 110 or 120 pieces of garbage,” Frank said of the objects found in the dog’s stomach.
Trooper needed life-saving surgery again. Veterinarian Dr. Gonzales told CBS News it was a “once in a lifetime career case.”
It took Florida veterinarians over four hours to remove the metal and rubber from his stomach — which was in his body before the Spinas adopted him.
It is common for terriers to eat different objects, so terrier owners don’t give them many toys, the veterinarian explained to CBS News. In Trooper’s case, veterinarians said it was possible he lived outside and ate trash for nourishment or due to boredom.
“Could you imagine how starved he had to be to ingest a piece of metal or, or pieces of rubber that are the size of quarters?” Frank said.
Frank, an acting criminal defense attorney, is now working to fight for justice for their dog and the alleged abuse the Trooper faced before he joined their family.
Trooper’s previous owner, Giovanny Garcia, was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty on Monday, Oct. 15.Meanwhile, Frank said he will attend each hearing with Trooper. The next hearing is on Monday, March 31. “Every single hearing, a trial, a sentencing, we will be there,” he said. “He’s going to have to look at this dog and account for what he did to him.”