MANATEE COUNTY – A 140-pound mastiff that has killed one dog and injured at least three people and three other dogs remains at home with his owner.
Rudy, owned by Anthony Santamauro, of Bradenton, attacked a small dog owned by Deanna McCollian, of Illinois, on Aug. 9 at Island Time Bar and Grill in Bradenton Beach, leading to the small dog’s death, according to police reports. During the attack, the unleashed mastiff bit McCollian and Island Time employee Sean Hamrick.
Manatee County Animal Welfare (MCAW) served quarantine paperwork to Santamauro following the incident and began an investigation on Aug. 10.
According to a report from MCAW officer Kevin Mitchell submitted on Aug. 17, the behavior appears to be a longstanding pattern.
“I was advised that Rudy is highly aggressive and killed multiple puppies in the past. I was then advised that they attempted to take Rudy to a trainer and the trainer advised that the dog should not be in public unless it’s leashed and muzzled, or both,” Mitchell wrote in a report after speaking to Santamauro’s estranged wife.
Reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by one of the dog’s victims show more incidents.
The FOIA request yielded two previous attacks, one in 2020 and one in 2021, in addition to the most recent attack which left Holmes Beach resident Evalena Leedy injured with six puncture wounds to her arm on Aug. 21.
MCAW has continued to decline requests to comment on any of them.
According to a report on June 8, 2020, Bradenton resident Dorgas Skein stated that while walking her leashed dog, an off-leash dog from a neighboring house ran towards her dog, causing injuries to her dog that required surgery. The dog was confirmed to be Rudy, owned by Santamauro, who was issued a citation for an animal causing injury.
The second confirmed attack took place on April 12, 2021 on Columbia Drive in West Bradenton. According to the MCAW report on the incident, Alberto Seda, of Bradenton, was walking his dog on a leash along the road when Rudy ran into the road and attacked the much smaller dog.
“Anthony Santamauro was very apologetic and said he offered to pay the vet bill. Anthony said he had given them $300 for the vet visit, and they said it might be another $1,300,” MCAW Officer R. Duckworth wrote in his 2021 report. “Anthony had asked if he signs the dog over, would it get put down? I said most likely not. I said to sleep on it and I will call him tomorrow. I advised him if he is worried about the liability issues, he should put up two fences with gates in them to contain the dogs from getting out to the street and this shouldn’t happen again. I educated him on the laws, told him with prior history, he might receive a ticket.”
The fourth confirmed, and most recent, attack took place on Aug. 21, 2023, reported by The Sun in its Aug. 30 edition. Evalena Leedy was taking her 9-pound toy poodle, Alonzo, for a walk about 8:30 p.m. when unleashed Rudy approached rapidly from nearby bushes. In an effort to protect Alonzo from the animal that was more than 14 times its size, she grabbed him and put him on the roof of a nearby car. Alonzo was unharmed, but Leedy wasn’t as fortunate.
“The dog repeatedly lunged at me and bit my right arm causing me to bleed,” Leedy said. “The dog kept coming, I was trying to protect myself and Alonzo and was unsuccessfully attempting to kick the dog away.”
Leedy said after she had been bitten, the dog’s owner, later identified as Santamauro, arrived and pulled the mastiff off of her.
Leedy has remained frustrated with MCAW and their handling of the situation. According to the FOIA reports she requested, and later provided to The Sun, Rudy was only ordered to quarantine after the Island Time incident. In the most recent report, involving Leedy’s case, no quarantine was issued and Rudy remains free.
According to Florida Statutes, if an investigation finds a dog to be dangerous, and it further attacks humans or other domestic animals, the owner is guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor and the dog is confiscated by animal control and humanely destroyed after a 10-day period (Florida Statute 767.13 (1) ). If a dog deemed dangerous attacks, causing serious injury or death to a human, the owner is guilty of a third-degree felony and the dog is humanely destroyed after a 10-day period (Florida Statute 767.13 (2) ).
MCAW has refused to comment on any of these cases and has offered Leedy little information on what actions are being taken beyond what is contained in the reports she obtained from the FOIA request. She wants answers, but isn’t holding out a great deal of hope based on past actions by MCAW.
“It seems that from reports, Animal Control does little or nothing to follow up after attacks,” Leedy said in a Sept. 13 email to the Sun. “Where is Santamauro and Rudy? Why was the quarantine not required after my bite? Why is there only one dangerous dog listed on Manatee County’s website? What will it take for Manatee County to act? Another dog dying, or God forbid a person?”
