Mass. man convicted of beating his dog with baseball bat
A New Bedford man has been found guilty of beating his dog with a baseball bat in Dartmouth in 2018, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Following a bench trial in New Bedford District Court, a judge convicted 57-year-old Gregory Ostiguy on one count of animal cruelty on July 28, the district attorney’s office said in a press release.
On May 18, 2018, Dartmouth police were dispatched to the area of Colonial and Slocum Roads for reports that a man was standing outside a Jeep and beating a dog with a baseball bat, the district attorney’s office said. At the scene, police found Ostiguy standing outside his Jeep “in an agitated state.”
Ostiguy told police he was frustrated because Harley — his pit bull — had eaten his lunch, the district attorney’s office said. Multiple witnesses reported to police that they saw Ostiguy strike the dog with a wooden baseball bat numerous times.
Dartmouth Animal Control took Harley to a local veterinary hospital where the dog was treated for a cheek laceration, the district attorney’s office said. The veterinarian concluded that external trauma caused the dog’s injury.
The judge in the case sentenced Ostiguy to a year in prison, but ruled that he had served his time, as he was previously convicted on the same charge in the case in March 2021, the district attorney’s office said. Ostiguy was granted a new trial after the court determined that he had not received a full explanation of his rights during his first trial.
After being convicted of animal cruelty in 2021, Ostiguy was convicted of threatening two New Bedford District Court probation officers, the district attorney’s office said. He was sentenced to serve three and a half to seven years in state prison on the charges in this case in Fall River Superior Court.
“This is outrageous behavior from a defendant who has a history of violent conduct. Fortunately, he was convicted by the court after a second trial was required,” Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn said in the release.
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