George Santos allegedly stole $3,000 in donations to veteran’s dying service dog: report

Disgraced Rep. George Santos allegedly swindled a disabled homeless veteran out of thousands of dollars donated to save the man’s dying service dog, according to a harrowing report.

The purported report adds to a growing list of Santos’ questionable behavior – from a largely fake resume to fabricated Jewish heritage – that has confounded the freshman congressman ever since he was elected to represent parts of Long Island and Queens.

Veteran, Richard Osthoff, told a local news site A patch about him meeting Santos, who introduced himself as Anthony Devolder, at a difficult time in his life in May 2016.

Patch reported that Osthoff, who was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2002, was living in a tent on the side of Highway 9 in Howell, New Jersey at the time, with his beloved service dog, Sapphire.

Sapphire suffered from life-threatening stomach tumor it grew by the day, and surgery to remove the tumor would have cost $3,000, according to the veterinarian’s estimate, Osthoff said.

veteran who couldn’t afford the surgerysaid a veterinary technician took him aside and offered to help through a pet charity called Friends of Pets United, run by Anthony Devolder, an alias Santos has used in the past.

Devolder set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for Sapphire, and once he reached his $3,000 goal, he closed and deleted the fundraising page and became hard to reach before disappearing entirely, Oosthoff told Patch.

The Navy veterinarian, now 47, never saw a dime of donations, and his beloved service dog died on January 15, 2017, according to the publication.

“The little girl hasn’t left me in 10 years,” Osthoff told Patch. “I had two bouts of serious suicidal thoughts, but the thought of leaving her without me saved my life. I loved this dog so much that I breathed her last breaths when I put her to sleep.”

His story was corroborated by a fellow veteran and retired New Jersey Police Sergeant. Michael Ball, who told Patch when he heard what happened, tried to help Osthoff by contacting Santos.

“I contacted [Santos] and told him, “You’re joking with a veteran,” and that he needs to get the money back or use it to buy Osthoff another dog,” Ball said. “He was completely uncooperative on the phone.”

Oesthoff said Santos asked him to take Sapphire to a veterinarian in Queens rather than a practice in New Jersey because he had “credit” to practice at the Big Apple.

The veterinarian who told Osthoff about Santos’ charity took the couple to a practice in Queens, where the veterinarian said Sapphire’s tumor was inoperable.

Santos claimed that instead he donated $3,000 to other dogs in need because Sapphire was not a candidate for surgery and Oosthoff didn’t go his own way, according to a text exchange reviewed by Patch.

After that, Osthoff was never able to contact Santos again.

There is no official record of Santos’ animal charity, Friends of Pets United, being registered as a tax-exempt organization or charity. according to the New York Times.

Another woman told the newspaper that she, too, was scammed by an animal rescue group.

She was supposed to be the beneficiary of a 2017 fundraising event in which Santos charged $50 per person but never received any funds. She told the Times that Santos offered excuse after excuse when asked about funding.

Santos and his attorney did not respond to Patch’s requests for comment.

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