An American man sent to prison for running a bestiality farm and suspected of stealing a dog in the state of Washington was arrested Saturday in Port Stanley for the second time in three months.

It’s not known how Doug Spink, 44, was able to slip back into Canada after he was deported in August.

Spink’s arrest Saturday is the latest twist in a sordid saga that includes a missing 60-kilogram dog and exposes the murky world of bestiality and zoophilia — a sexual fixation on animals.

Elgin OPP confirmed Monday that Spink was arrested Saturday in Port Stanley by officers sent to a house fire on Brayside Street.

But there is no word on whether police located Ghengis — a large dog suspected to have been taken from a Washington State goat farmer and dog breeder that has been missing for a year and a half.

“That component is still open, the Ghengis component,” Elgin OPP Const. Troy Carlson said Monday. “At the time of the fire, there weren’t any dogs in the house.”

The fire was reported to Elgin OPP and Central Elgin firefighters at about 6:20 p.m. Saturday.

While firefighters fought the small blaze, neighbours told police there had been a confrontation outside the home and that the man who owned the home had been held at knifepoint by another man.

The Free Presshas learned that the homeowner is Ronald Matuschek, an associate of Spink’s.

The man who confronted the homeowner ran down the street and broke into another house while the neighbours were away. There were reports that the man broke down the door and let out the ­family dog.

When officers caught up to the man, he was extremely combative with them. There are reports it took four officers to subdue him.

He was arrested and was seen kicking out the windows of a police cruiser before he was taken away.

Spink is slated to appear in St. Thomas court on seven charges: assault with a weapon, uttering threats, possession of a dangerous weapon, resisting a police officer, mischief, breaking and entering and assault.

Matuschek left the area during the fire and was located later at a gas station.

Saturday’s arrest was the second time police had picked up Spink in Port Stanley.

The first was in August, when he was arrested a day after he was mistakenly released from the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre.

Spink was being held at the London jail after he was picked up by London police called to a Wharncliffe Road business because a man without a shirt on and wearing a towel was behaving strangely. Spink gave police a false name and later identified himself, prompting his arrest on an immigration hold for a warrant issued in Washington state.

London police later confirmed Spink had a dog with him at the time of his arrest. The Free Presshas since learned through sources that after a story appeared about Ghengis, the arresting officer recognized the dog from a newspaper photo as the dog Spink had with him in London.

London police didn’t call Animal Control, but instead, handed the dog over to Spink’s Port Stanley friend, Matuschek, who had been called by the police.

Spink is a convicted drug smuggler and advocate for sexual relationships with animals. He once operated a bestiality tourism farm.

He’s wanted in Washington State after he skipped out on serving a 90-day sentence for animal cruelty that was dealt to him more than a year ago. He already had a record for smuggling a large quantity of cocaine between Canada and the United States and violating his release order when he was heard on a video of a British national at Spink’s farm that was suspected for animal sex tourism.

He’s also the prime suspect, though never charged, in a dognapping of Ghengis, the dog belonging to dog breeder and goat farmer Andrew Johnston. Ghengis disappeared in February 2014 from a pasture adjacent to an organic farm where Spink was staying while on a federal release order for drug charges.

Jenny Edwards, a Washington State animal cruelty private investigator who monitors various web sites for criminal activity, said Spink has always had an active online presence in underground bestiality chat rooms and operates a web encryption service. He went silent for a few months after he was returned to the United States.

He started reappearing on social media last week, the first time since his abrupt deportation, she said. Edwards is convinced that Spink returned to Canada to get the dog.

“He’s in the category of people who are compulsive about their sexual behaviour with animals,” she said.

Spink has “a history of never letting anything go. He’s kind of the extreme of that category of zoophile.”

Edwards said it’s not clear what Spink’s relationship is with Matuschek. “What’s clear is that Spink has consistently shown more interest in animals than people.”

Johnston, who has filed a civil suit against Spink over the missing dog, said he wasn’t surprised Spink was back in Canada and he’s convinced he and Matuschek know where his dog is.

But, he said, “I’m not going up that roller-coaster anymore,” thinking Ghengis might be found. “I just don’t want to go through that again until it’s real.”

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THE ACCUSED

Doug Spink is 44 years old.

Described as highly intelligent and web savvy.

Served time in prison for cocaine smuggling and animal cruelty.

Regarded by law enforcement and experts as a zoophile, defined as a person who has a sexual fixation on animals.

Spink has “a history of never letting anything go. He’s kind of the extreme of that category of zoophile,” one animal cruelty private investigator says, “What’s clear is that Spink has consistently shown more interest in animals than people.”

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CHRONOLOGY

February 2014:Andrew Johnston discovers his dog called Ghengis, a Boerboel-Kangal mix, is missing. Johnston’s farm is next to the Compass Rose Farm. Doug Spink is arrested a week later. He denies taking Ghengis but is sent back to prison because he had a dog — a violation of his parole.

December 2014:Johnston files a lawsuit against Spink, accusing him of stealing Ghengis. The two men made a deal in 2007 to breed dogs that fell apart.

Aug. 9, 2015: Spink is picked up by London police officers responding to a call of a man acting erratically at a Wharncliffe Road business

Aug. 10:Spink is mistakenly released from the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre

Aug. 11:Spink is arrested in Port Stanley

Aug. 12:Spink is driven to the border and turned over to American authorities

Nov. 14:Spink is arrested in Port Stanley by OPP officers responding to a house fire