Police arrested Bruno Fernandes on Wednesday night after he threatened to attack the Ludlow animal control officer, police said.
LUDLOW - The owner of two dogs that last month attacked a 7-year-old girl and touched off a territorial dispute between Ludlow and Springfield officials was arrested Wednesday night by Ludlow police for another incident involving a loose dog.
Bruno Fernandes, 33, of 190 Lakeview Ave. was charged with threatening to commit a crime, disorderly conduct and intimidating a witness, said Ludlow police Sgt. Daniel Valadas.
He was arrested at his home at about 7:30 p.m. The dog running loose on his property did not harm anyone, but Fernandes was arrested when he threatened to attack the Ludlow animal control officer, Valadas said.
Police were called to Lakeview Avenue when neighbors called to complain a dog, described in the incident report as “a white pit bull mix” named Suki, was running free and not listening to its owner, Valadas said.
Officers responding to the scene called for the town animal control officer. The dog was eventually corralled and secured by the owner, but then Fernandes got into a heated argument with the animal control officer. Neighbors have filed more than 10 animal complaints about Fernandes over the last year.
On Aug. 26, two of his dogs, named Dora the Explorer and Princess, attacked a 7-year-old girl in front of her grandparents house at 177 Lakeview. The two dogs, initially called pit bulls by police, turned out to be mixed breed boxer and Mastiff dogs, each weighing about 75 pounds.
The girl suffered a bit to the stomach and was required to begin rabies treatments because Dora the Explorer and Princess were not up to date on their shots.
At a Board of Selectmen hearing after the incident, Fernandes was fined for allowing a dog under quarantine to run loose, for failing to keep the dogs up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations, and for letting a dog bit a child off his property.
In a move that generated controversy, Selectmen allowed the dogs to be returned to Fernandes, as long as he agreed to keep them out of Ludlow. Selectman chairman William E. Rooney would say at the time the selectmen felt that ordering the dogs to be put down would be too drastic.
Fernandes told the selectmen he would keep the two dogs at his property at 1213 Worcester St. in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield, although when this was publicized, Springfield officials immediately cried foul.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno called a press conference in Indian Orchard to declare he was outraged another community using Springfield as “a dumping ground” for its own problems. He said he directed the law department, police, city clerk and animal control officers to block the dogs from coming to Springfield.