TALAHASSEE, Fla. (TNND) — A dog found tied to a pole along an evacuation route in Florida as Hurricane Milton headed toward the state has been given a new lease on life.

Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) troopers rescued the dog, whose new name is Trooper, on Wednesday morning.

“His name is Trooper because of how much he has been through and to honor those who saved him,” the Leon County Humane Society wrote on Facebook the next day.

The message included a photo of the dog, plus some information about rumors circulating online.

The dog’s video went viral after FHP Tampa posted footage showing the animal tied to a post near a wooded area off Interstate 75.

“Please DO NOT do this to your pets,” FHP wrote on social media.

Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to the post, saying Florida will hold accountable anyone who abuses pets.

“It is cruel to anyone to leave a dog tied to a post in the middle of an approaching storm,” the governor noted.

However, the circumstances leading to the dog’s apparent abandonment were not immediately known. Residents evacuated the area before the storm, but the dog somehow stayed behind.

“We cannot imagine the situation that ended with him tied to this post, leaving him without any hope,” the Leon County Humane Society noted. “It’s hard to imagine how scared he must have been as cars sped by, the water rose to his stomach and the storm clouds darkened.”

In the post, the Leon County Humane Society also addressed apparent comments made on social media about the shelter that initially helped the dog, as well as a volunteer pet group reporting that the dog had been returned to its owner.

The organization said the officer who took the dog to the shelter “to be examined” later returned to pick up the dog for its transfer. Because it was released to the same person who brought it in, it was incorrectly listed as returned to its owner and then updated as turned over to law enforcement.

This means that although the public thought the dog’s owner had picked him up, this was not the case, leading to nasty reactions online.

“Shelters across the US are working hard to provide relief after two major hurricanes hit the South. There is no reason to be unkind,” the Leon County Humane Society wrote. “Mistakes happen, especially in stressful, hectic and emotional circumstances. Trooper is safe. Trooper is also one dog – there are hundreds of animals right now that need their care and attention and they deserve to be able to focus on that. Let them have their doing life-saving work by helping animals.”

The Leon County Humane Society said the good news is that Trooper is safe. They said they picked him up from the emergency department and he is now recovering.

According to the post, the Leon County Humane Society is not currently processing adoption applications for Trooper.

“We have already received dozens of inquiries and we understand that he is a special and famous dog, but he needs time to decompress in a foster home so that we can match him with the best possible fit so that he has the best transition to his forever home,” the message said.

“If his termination was a misunderstanding, that is another reason not to accept applications,” the post said.

TheLeon County Humane Society added that it will share an update on Trooper in the future. Until then, the dog will stay in a foster home.

“We know there will be more animals in need of help as a result of this storm, and while we already have a busy program from our immediate community, we are here to help our neighbors and beyond. Animals don’t know zip codes, they just need help.”

The storm made landfall near Siesta Key on Wednesday around 8:30 p.m. At least 16 deaths were reported Thursday morning.