DeSantis vows to punish Floridians who leave dogs tied up amid hurricanes

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vowed Wednesday to punish Floridians who leave dogs tied up amid hurricanes, as the threat of Hurricane Milton looms over the state's west coast.

"It is cruel for anyone to leave a dog tied to a post in the middle of an oncoming storm. FL will hold anyone who mistreats pets accountable," DeSantis wrote on social platform X, responding to a post from Florida Highway Patrol's Troop C.

The patrol troop — which is based in the Tampa, Fla., area — shared a video, explaining that they rescued a dog that had been tied to a pole on I-75.

The governor replied, “Thank you, @FHPTampa."

Milton, forecasted to be catastrophic, is expected to make landfall as early as Wednesday evening. It comes less than two weeks after another destructive storm, Hurricane Helene, hit the Sunshine State.

The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that as many as 5.9 million people in Florida are under mandatory evacuation orders, with orders sent to the area around Tampa’s over 3.3 million people with the storm looming. 

President Biden warned Tuesday that Milton could be the worst storm to hit the Sunshine State in over 100 years and pushed for Florida residents in the storm’s path to follow local officials’ direction.

“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” Biden said. “And God willing it won’t be, but that’s what it’s looking like right now.”

Milton was originally predicted to be a Category 3 storm when it hit land, but it quickly intensified earlier this week over the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 5 — the strongest rating. The storm is now predicted to decrease intensity as it approaches the coast, but experts warn it is still very dangerous. 

Amid evacuation orders, highways have been packed and the demand for gas has left stations without fuel.