Rescue a dog tied up by the road in Tampa before Milton's arrival: “Don't do this to your pets.”

Florida Highway Patrol agents rescued a dog on Wednesday morning that was tied to a pole alongside Interstate 75 in Tampa, despite the danger looming over that area of the state's west coast due to the imminent impact of the powerful hurricane Milton.

“Please don’t do this to your pets…,” the agency requested in a post on social media platform X, along with a video documenting the discovery of the dog on I-75, near Bruce B Downs Blvd, this morning.

The abandoned dog appears to be a Bull Terrier, or a mixed breed of that breed, and it was tied to a wire fence, in the middle of the rain, and submerged up to its torso in the water that flooded the grassy area.

When it saw the agents approaching, the animal went on high alert, raising its ears, but it was visibly scared and started barking, while one of the officers tried to calm it down, repeating, "It's okay, it's okay."

It is presumed that the pet must have been abandoned there by its owners while they left Tampa to seek refuge in other safer areas of the state, aware of the severe weather conditions in the region, which will worsen as the powerful hurricane approaches the Gulf Coast of Florida, and the danger that this weather system poses to the lives of people and animals.

This act of animal abuse demonstrates the complete lack of humanity, compassion, and love from the owners towards their pet, which they should have cared for and protected in a risky situation like the one occurring in Florida.

Milton will make landfall somewhere along the Florida Gulf Coast as a "major and dangerous hurricane" around 2 a.m. this Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The hurricane, which has returned to category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale (maximum of 5), is currently moving northeast at 17 mph (28 km/h) with winds of 145 mph (over 230 km/h).

Following the warning from state and local authorities about the threat posed by Milton, there have been mass evacuations in Florida in anticipation of the hurricane's arrival, considered the worst to impact the state in the last 100 years.

The mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, issued a strong warning to the city's residents on Tuesday due to the proximity of the cyclone.

"Helene was a wake-up call. This is literally catastrophic. I can say without dramatizing at all that if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die," said the official who was trying to warn about the risks looming with the approach of Milton.

During the evacuations, some roads showed heavy traffic on Tuesday, and on the same day, as many people waited until the last day to make the decision to move to a safe place, and now they are desperate and vulnerable as the storm approaches.

In the bulletins this Wednesday, the NHC reported that winds will begin to increase along the west coast of Florida throughout the afternoon, and urged to finalize preparations and evacuations, as time is running out.

"Milton is growing in size as it approaches the west coast of Florida. Potentially deadly storm surges, damaging winds, and torrential rains are expected in parts of central and southwestern Florida," the 2:00 p.m. advisory noted.