Alleged Army deserter charged with dragging little puppy down Revere street

A Saugus man wanted by the Army for going AWOL now faces charges in Revere that he dragged a puppy down the street long enough to make one of its paws bleed, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Prosecutors urged Robert H. Dambra, 30, be held without bail; Chelsea District Court Judge Benjamin Barnes set bail at $450. According to the DA's office, police responded around 7 p.m. yesterday to an animal-cruelty complaint at Mountain Avenue and Madison Street:

On arrival, they found Dambra carrying the dog, which was bleeding from its right front paw and had injuries to its other paws. The officers saw the dog to be cold, wet, and shivering.

The officers also spoke to the civilian witness who had reported the incident to police. That witness, a 44-year-old Revere woman, told the officers that she’d seen Dambra dragging the dog for several hundred feet. She said she'd told Dambra that it looked like he was hurting the dog.

"Go [expletive] yourself," he allegedly said in return.

Dembra allegedly told police he was teaching the 8-week-old puppy to walk on a leash. When arrested, his hsirt had "reddish-brown stains consistent with bloody paw prints on it," according to the DA's office, which says the puppy was released to Dembra;s father, who claimed ownership.

Innocent, etc.