George Santos Dog Veteran Will Get New Pup, Free Care From LI Shelter – Patch

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — The New Jersey veteran who told Patch last week that Long Island Rep. George Santos scammed him out of $3,000 raised in a GoFundMe campaign to save his dying service dog got some good news.
Port Washington’s North Shore Animal League America offered Rich Osthoff a new puppy and lifetime veterinary care for the new addition to the Navy veteran’s animal family in Freehold.
Osthoff told Patch that he was listening to the Howard Stern Show on Monday when he heard Stern’s wife, Beth Stern, say she felt bad for the disabled veteran, who said Santos swindled him out of the money raised for tumor surgery in 2016 for his dog, Sapphire.
Stern didn’t mention Osthoff by name, but said that North Shore Animal League America wanted to find the veteran and gift him a new puppy, with lifetime medical bills included. Stern has been a longtime advocate for the no-kill Long Island shelter and animal rescue organization, and serves as its national spokesperson.
“Beth made my day when she mentioned the offer,” Osthoff said.
“I was touched by the emotional impact Sapphire’s story had on her, which was evident in her voice. It’s comforting and reassuring — There really are caring people out there.”
Osthoff said he couldn’t procure a new therapy dog after Sapphire died in 2017. He has two dogs, Ruby and Diamond, that weren’t good fits to become a therapy dog to help him with mental health issues stemming from his time in the military, he explained. One was abused before he adopted her, he said.
So when Osthoff heard his story on the SiriusXM show he listens to regularly, he immediately called the shelter. He said the organization also pledged to give his other two dogs greatly-reduced veterinary care, an offer he said was too generous not to take.
Although Animal League America offered the 47-year-old construction worker a puppy, Osthoff thinks he will opt for a 1- or 2-year-old dog instead, “so we can get it right into PTSD training.”
Osthoff hopes to bring his “new fur baby home” in a couple of weeks, he said, after he gets his landlord’s approval and booster shots for his two dogs.
The offers to help Osthoff have been rolling in, he said, since his story of the doomed 2016 GoFundMe made headlines and prompted a slew of cable news appearances. Attorneys offering pro bono legal counsel and concerned residents who want to donate have contacted Patch to get in touch with Osthoff. A Nassau County legislator announced last week that he launched a new GoFundMe campaign to donate $3,000 to Paws of War in honor of the Osthoff story.
Santos told Semafor last week that Patch’s story was “fake” and that he had “no clue who this is.”
Patch has verified that the phone number Osthoff texted and called in 2016 was Santos’ from two former friends of the congressman. The address Santos used for Friends of Pets United in communications with Osthoff was located as one of Santos’ former addresses by multiple sources, including Gothamist’s report that Santos told the NYPD in 2016 that he was mugged on his way to pay $2,250 in rent he owed to the owner of the Whitestone house.
GoFundMe told Patch that it will cooperate with any criminal investigations that are currently ongoing, or that may arise, in connection to the fundraising account. The company also confirmed that the 2016 fundraiser was linked to Santos, the Washington Post reported.
Santos tweeted that he has helped rescue many dogs over the years, and when a local Eyewitness News reporter asked him for examples, he shared a text message with a picture of a dog from an unknown sender under which the words “Hang in there, we need you in there” can be seen.

The embattled congressman was filmed on Tuesday by NY1 correspondent Kevin Frey hanging a POW-MIA flag outside his office in D.C. by NY1 correspondent Kevin Frey.
Osthoff told Patch he viewed the move as a personal affront.
“He’s really got some b—- — taunting every veteran and service member,” he said.
In perhaps the least serious offer that Osthoff and Sapphire’s ordeal has inspired, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum announced that a portion of sales from a new George Santos Bobblehead will go toward “dog-related GoFundMe campaigns,” founder and CEO Phil Sklar said.
“We have been receiving a growing number of requests for a bobblehead of Santos with some people calling him the early candidate for ‘Bobblehead of the Year,'” Sklar explained.

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