When the former Republican U.S. Rep George Santos walked out of the Central Islip courtroom after being sentenced to a little more than 7 years in prison for wire fraud and identity theft, he was swarmed with cameras, reporters and shouting civilians — but one yell stood out among the rest.
“You killed my dog, Anthony!” a man with a cane shouted at the car George Santos was in.
For two years, U.S. Navy veteran Richard Osthoff has claimed that George Santos, under his well-known alias Anthony Devolder, scammed him and his loved ones out of $3,000 raised to give his dog life-saving surgery; and for two years, Santos has vehemently denied ever collaborating with Osthoff — until for the first time, on April 27, he told the Press a different story.
When Osthoff’s service dog, Sapphire, developed a fatty cyst on her side in 2016, his veterinarian told him the surgery to save her life would cost $3,000. Osthoff, who was homeless at the time, did not have that kind of money. The vet tech who worked there said she knew of a charity, Friends of Pets United, that could help. She put Osthoff in touch with Santos, who was then going by Anthony Devolder, who founded and ran the organization.
Santos created a GoFundMe named “Support Sapphire the veteran rescue! By Anthony Devolder.” Santos would later tell the Press he was not the one handling the GoFundMe, despite its name. Through donations from Osthoff’s family, friends and fellow Navy veterans, it finally reached its goal.
Osthoff never saw a cent. Sapphire died shortly later. “Anthony Devolder” became a ghost — until, six years later, he showed up on Osthoff’s TV screen running for Congress under the name George Santos.
Osthoff took his story to the media, but Santos almost never responded to requests for comment. When asked about it on television, he said Osthoff’s story was entirely fabricated.
“I’ve never spoken to [Osthoff],” Santos said on NewsNation in 2023. “I’m positive it didn’t happen.”
“If he had met me, his dog would have received the surgery,” he told Piers Morgan that same year. “I’ve never met him, I’ve never took [sic] on this case.”
But during an April 27 X Space — a podcast-esque feature on X (formerly Twitter) where hosts may allow listeners to ask live questions — George Santos changed his tune while speaking to the Press.
“This man [Osthoff], we raised money for him at the time,” Santos said. “There’s very low chance of survivability for the dog, and we make a judgment call … A decision was made, and in that decision, we chose to, you know, say, ‘Sorry, we can’t do anything to help you. … the money went to another to other animals, it would save so many more animals that could be saved with the money.”
A report by The New York Times casts doubt on Santos’ claim that the money went to other animals, as pet stores and dog rescues that worked with him claimed he insisted checks be made out to Anthony Devolder rather than Friends of Pets United, and would alter any checks that didn’t abide by this request. Further, the group was never registered as a nonprofit.
Even so, it doesn’t matter if the money had gone to other animals, Osthoff told the Press — the money was explicitly and specifically raised for Sapphire’s surgery.
“Ninety percent of the money came from my friends, my friends, my family and my shipmates that I served [in the Navy] with, which is what hurts the most about him stealing that money,” Osthoff said. “It wasn’t just him stealing from me.”
Santos also said that “nobody [wanted] to touch the dog” or take on the surgery to save her.
“It’s past treatment,” Santos told the Press. “It’s like, there’s nothing that can be done for this dog. The vet tech [who connected me and Osthoff] herself even said that no vet wants to take this task on.”
That claim is false in multiple respects, Osthoff said. Firstly, Sapphire’s mass was not cancerous — it was a benign, fatty cyst. Secondly, he said, it was unlikely the vet tech said that.
“The vet that she works for was going to do [the surgery] if we raised the money,” he said, adding that the veterinarian is a trusted source who had taken care of his dogs since he was a boy. “That was why we started up the GoFundMe in the first place, so we could pay for the surgery.”
The fatty cyst was never removed. It continued to grow and attach to Sapphire’s organs.
“It wasn’t even cancer,” Osthoff said. “One day she was young, the next day she has this [lipoma] on her side, and then somebody said they were going to help me, and the next thing, the thing was a size of a soccer ball, and then I had to go beg for money to put her down.”
“I had to go in front of a Home Depot near where I was homeless at that point, and I had to beg for money to cremate my dog,” he said.
Nine years later, George Santos is going to prison for his lies. Osthoff attended every court proceeding. He watched Santos cry as the sentence was handed down. And he felt vindicated, he said, seeing Santos feel what it’s like to lose something precious to you.
Santos is planning on asking President Donald Trump for a pardon. If his request is unsuccessful, he must begin his prison sentence by July 25.
