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Tag: dog attack

County takes no action against dog owner after multiple attacks

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

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?”

Vicious dog attacks again

Vicious dog attacks again

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – A Holmes Beach resident says she and her dog are lucky to be alive after being attacked by a 143-pound mastiff while going for a walk at her condo.

Evalena Leedy was taking her 9-pound toy poodle, Alonzo, for a walk on Aug. 21 about 8:30 p.m. when the unleashed 143-pound dog approached rapidly.

“The whole ordeal was terrifying!” Leedy said. “I was walking Alonzo near the condo when out from the bushes, next to the dumpster comes an unleashed, large mastiff dog running straight for us. I picked up Alonzo and threw him on top of a parked car. The dog repeatedly lunged at me and bit my right arm, causing me to bleed. 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 Anthony Santamauro, arrived and pulled the mastiff off her.

“I was screaming for someone to call the police and get help, we were being viciously attacked. The owner then put the dog inside the gate of one of the units and started walking toward me asking what was happening. Standing there bleeding, I told him that his dog bit me. His reply was ‘He did not bite you, you are going to kill my dog,’ which I thought was a strange and unbelievable response,” Leedy said.

According to a medical report from HCA Florida Blake Hospital that Leedy provided to The Sun, along with photographs of her injuries, the dog bit her and she had five serious puncture wounds and lacerations to her right arm that required multiple sutures and medication after she was treated.

Leedy says she is thankful the injuries weren’t worse and her dog, Alonzo, escaped unharmed, but she feared for both of their lives as the incident unfolded.

Worried about rabies complications, she was able to get vaccination records from the owner of the condo where the mastiff’s owner was staying. She said that fortunately, the animal did have a rabies shot in February of this year. However, while looking at the vaccination record from a Bradenton veterinarian, she was shocked to see Santamauro’s name.

“I read an article in The Sun recently about a small dog being killed in an attack at Island Time Bar and Grill in Bradenton Beach on Aug. 9,” Leedy said. “I quickly realized this was the same dog and the same owner. The last dog he attacked died. How is he still running around without a leash?”

Leedy had called 911 after the attack, but since she was in the car with her partner driving to the hospital, they referred her to Manatee County Animal Control and did not send police since the victim wasn’t on the scene to speak to them.

She said a later call the next day didn’t get her much information from Animal Control, and she didn’t even know if the dog was still in her neighborhood. The Sun called Manatee County Animal Control on Aug. 24, and was told they would not provide any information on the case. The following statement was issued by email from Manatee County Public Information Officer Bill Logan, which he said was from Manatee County Animal Welfare:

“This is an open active Dangerous Dog (Florida Statute 767) Investigation. The dog owner will be served his letter today along with citations that will be issued.”

According to the Florida Department of Health, there is a mandatory 10-day quarantine for any dog that bites a human. If the dog has been vaccinated and is up to date on its rabies shots, that quarantine can be at the home of the owner. Since the first attack took place on Aug. 9, the 10-day mandatory quarantine period would have expired when Leedy was bitten on Aug. 21, but the animal should now be under a second quarantine for the attack against her.

Both Animal Control and Holmes Beach police met with Leedy on Aug. 25 at her home, and she said that both agencies told her they had not yet been in contact with Santamauro, who was no longer staying in the Holmes Beach condo complex where the incident occurred.

Lt. Brian Hall of the Holmes Beach Police Department told The Sun in an Aug. 25 phone call that his department had compiled a report on the incident and would be sharing that report with Animal Control, which is leading the investigation.

If the investigation finds the dog to be dangerous, any further attacks on humans or other domestic animals would cause the owner to be subject to a first-degree misdemeanor charge, and the dog could be confiscated by animal control and humanely destroyed after a 10-day period, according to Florida Statute 767.13 (1). If a dog deemed dangerous attacks, causing serious injury or death to a human, the owner could be guilty of a third-degree felony and the dog humanely destroyed after a 10-day period, according to Florida Statute 767.13 (2).

Dog attack injures woman, kills dog

Dog attack injures woman, kills dog

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – A woman and her small dog were attacked by an unleashed mastiff at Island Time Bar and Grill, 111 Gulf Drive S. on Aug. 9.

The dog later died, according to the owner.

Bradenton Beach Police Officer Thomas Ferrara was in the parking lot of Circle K at 103 Gulf Drive S. when he heard people screaming for help at the restaurant next door, according to a police report.

After calling for backup, he arrived at the scene and while trying to determine if a weapon was involved in the incident, he heard someone say it was a dog attack and people had been bitten, according to the report.

Ferrara saw a woman, who wished not to be identified, bleeding from her left leg and left middle finger. His attention was then directed to a man, identified as Anthony Santamauro, holding a large English mastiff dog he estimated to weigh more than 100 pounds. Santamauro was holding his shoulder but did not appear to be bleeding.

Video evidence

Due to conflicting stories from witnesses, Sgt. Steve Masi, who had arrived to provide backup, reviewed security footage from the bar revealing what had happened.

“After reviewing the video, I observed Mr. Santamauro enter the Island Time patio area with his dog (which the owner identified as a service dog), through a northwest doorway near the bar,” according to the police report. “Upon entering, Santamauro had the dog walking directly next to him. It appears the mastiff saw the very tiny dog approximately one-tenth its size leashed and sitting under the table with its female owner while she was eating dinner.”

The report goes on to say the unleashed mastiff grabbed the small dog in its jaws and begin shaking it and violently biting. When the small dog’s owner pulled it out of the larger dog’s mouth by pulling on the leash and trying to hold it in the air, the mastiff knocked the woman to the ground. Santamauro dove between the dogs and tried to separate them, at which time he fell face forward to the ground, landing on his shoulder, according to the report.

EMS arrived at the scene, but the female victim refused transport to the hospital for her injuries.

Police said the victim reported her dog later succumbed to its injuries and did not survive the attack. Sgt. Masi contacted animal control, which is investigating the incident.

Santamauro was issued a city ordinance violation. The female victim said she did not want Santamauro to be “in a lot of trouble,” but did want him to be responsible for any hospital treatment costs and other bills associated with the incident, according to the report.