Rep. George Santos denies scamming veteran over dying dog

Newly elected Rep. George Santos (RN.Y.) denies allegations of a disabled veteran who said the truth-challenging congressman cheated him out of $3,000 that was earmarked for life-saving surgery on his service dog.

On Tuesday, U.S. Navy veteran Richard Osthoff told Patch that in 2016 he was homeless and trying to find a way to fund surgery so his dog, Sapphire, could have a tumor removed from his stomach. stomach.

A lab technician helped connect Osthoff to Santos, who ran a charity called Friends of Pets United under the name “Antony Devolder”.

Osthoff told NBC News that Santos’ group set up a GoFundMe page that raised $3,000 for the surgery, but the future congressman then stopped taking calls.

Osthoff said he never received any money from the charity and had to “beg” to pay for Sapphire’s euthanasia and cremation.

On Thursday, Santos took to Twitter and said: “The reports that I would let a dog die is shocking and insane. My work in animal advocacy was the labor of love and hard work.

He continued, “Over the past 24 hours I’ve received photos of dogs I’ve helped rescue over the years, along with messages of support,” before adding a pledge: “These distractions won’t stop me!

However, given that the animal charity scam allegations come as Santos faces multiple federal and local investigations for fabricating his background and campaign finance violations, it’s no wonder users of Twitter were skeptical of his claims of innocence.