He beat his dog for eating his Whopper. Now he's accused of making biological weapons threats

Gregory Ostiguy, of New Bedford, accused of beating his dog with a baseball bat in May because the animal ate his Whopper sandwich, is in more trouble.

NEW BEDFORD — Gregory Ostiguy, accused of beating his dog with a baseball bat in May because the animal ate his Whopper sandwich, is in more trouble.

This time, the 50-year-old man is charged with threatening to use biological weapons on officials at New Bedford District Court after a judge denied him custody of his dog following a court hearing Monday, according to court documents.

Ostiguy is currently being held without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction for a dangerousness hearing Friday in New Bedford District Court, court records say. He is charged with making threats to commit a crime and intimidation of a witness.

According to court records, a probation officer in the courthouse received a phone call and voice mail at 12:18 p.m. Monday, where Ostiguy says he wanted to give the worker "a heads up about biological warfare." The message says that not everything has to be "flash and bang or bow and arrow or chemically induced."

The message goes on to say that he (the probation officer) "has s--- on his freedoms and that he has been warned," court records say.

Ostiguy is also awaiting trial on a charge of animal cruelty, which was brought by Dartmouth police after witnesses reported seeing him strike his dog with a baseball bat on May 18 at Merrymount Drive and Slocum Road, Dartmouth, police said. The animal cruelty case is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Aug. 16 in New Bedford District Court.

On Monday morning in New Bedford District Court, Judge Bernadette L. Sabra, the court's presiding justice, allowed a request from the Town of Dartmouth to put Ostiguy's dog into foster care until there is a resolution of the animal cruelty case against him, according to Jordan Tacher, a public defender who represented Ostiguy at the hearing.

Ostiguy wanted the dog back, but the judge said the only way he was going to see the animal was during a supervised visit because of the pending charge, Tacher said.

The dog is currently at an undisclosed location in the care and custody of the town's Animal Control Department for the Dartmouth Police Department, said Stacey Hardy, assistant animal control officer for the town.

Dartmouth police took custody of the dog and brought it to the Anchor Animal Hospital, Dartmouth, for examination after witnesses said Ostiguy beat the dog. When Dartmouth police found the dog, they said it was in a harness and "shaking."

Tacher said police photos of the dog do not show any injuries and a report from a vet reported "a red spot of the cheek" that looks like a rash from an injury. The attorney said the report is "unclear" what caused the injury, saying it would be "self-inflicted" or "something else."

Based on the probation officer's report of the threats by Ostiguy, New Bedford police sought a warrant for his arrest Monday afternoon.

New Bedford Police Lt. Nathaniel Rodriguez, a spokesman for the NBPD, said Ostiguy was arrested shortly before 5 p.m. Monday at the former Fairhaven True Value Hardware on Pope's Island.

When Ostiguy appeared in New Bedford District Court on Tuesday on charges of making threats and intimidation, prosecutors with Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III's office requested a dangerousness hearing and Judge Thomas S. Barrett ordered him held without bail.

The judge also gave Ostiguy a warning that he could be held without bail for up to 90 days, if he makes bail on the threats and intimidation charges and commits any new offenses.