'I've never shot any dogs, ever': Lauren Boebert refutes claims that she killed neighbor's husky
UPDATE: Fact-checking website Snopes has rated the allegations that GOP's Lauren Boebert shot her neighbor's dog as "false".
SILT, COLORADO: Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert has vehemently refuted allegations that she shot her neighbor's dog. In her statement, Boebert clarified that another neighbor shot two dogs as they “were wounding and killing livestock in our neighborhood including several of our family’s goats." "Again, I had nothing to do with this and I believe there is a police report that verifies the neighbor’s account of why he shot the dogs," she added.
The ardent gun rights advocate said in an interview with Daily Mail on October 17 that neighbor Yaritza Mendoza's husky Omega had been injuring and killing livestock in their neighborhood and also asserted that the person who killed the dog had every right to do so. The congresswoman said it was her neighbor Brady Hogan who killed the dog and only after the canine and another husky owned by Mendoza attacked three of her goats. "They were viciously attacked at the neck and at their rear end," Boebert said. "Two dogs at each end on each goat. Her dogs had been going all throughout the neighborhood, killing chickens and turkeys and cats and other goats, and harassing other livestock"
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The district attorney’s office and the Garfield County Sheriff's Office also denied the allegation that Boebert killed the dog. The sherriff’s office stated, “In reference to the August 17, 2022 shooting of a dog at or near the Boebert residence in Silt, CO, [a] summons was issued for the shooting, (not to Representative Lauren Boebert as she was not the shooter). That case was turned-over to the District Attorney’s Office for further examination and determination of final charges. We do not know the disposition of that case."
“For the uninformed trolls: The story that was started saying I killed a neighbor’s dog is not true. I’ve never shot or killed any dog, ever,” Boebert said in a tweet on Monday.
For the uninformed trolls: The story that was started saying I killed a neighbors dog is not true. I've never shot or killed any dog, ever. A neighbor told the police that he shot two dogs.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) October 17, 2022
Mendoza, 21, of Silt, Colorado, earlier accused Boebert of killing Omega, a two-year-old husky, which led to a considerable backlash against the congresswoman. Mendoza alleged in a Facebook post that "on August 17, 2022 you took my best friend away with the 'power' of your gun." However, Mendoza has since retracted her unfounded allegations and deleted her post. Asked whether Boebert had shot her dog, she told Daily Mail, "I’m not sure, I need to figure that out. I need to take a step back for a second".
However, Brady Hogan, who shot the dog, slammed the allegations and claimed he shot the dog himself. "My girlfriend showed me the (Mendoza) social media posting yesterday and I was aghast at that, especially given the rampage that woman’s dogs have been on," Daily Mail quoted Hogan as saying. "She’s making herself sound like a victim and saying that Lauren had shot the animals, and that’s not the case at all. I spoke to police on both occasions and told them I killed the dogs – a Saint Bernard the first time and a husky the second time," he said.
"The animals were both on Lauren Boebert’s property at the time I shot them, but she wasn’t involved at all. The first go around, Lauren wasn’t even in the state. The second time, they were here, but not at home. I heard what was happening and couldn’t get a hold of anybody, so I just jumped the fence and went up there and shot the dog. This had been going on for quite some time," Hogan added. "I had shot at those dogs in broad daylight with a BB gun, just wanting to chase them off. But that wasn’t cutting it anymore, and they were still attacking, killing goats. I have a herd of goats and so does the congresswoman. And the dogs started slaughtering goats and that was when I had to actually take their lives."
Political vendetta?
"None of this came before, not until a few weeks before the election," Hogan said talking about the Facebook post circulating online. "It seems ridiculous because I explained what happened. I’m sure this is all happening because of the election season. Here’s the catch. I’m not a huge supporter of Lauren Boebert, but I border their property and we have a shared interest in these animals. When this all happened, if nobody was there to stop it, those dogs would have continued to kill all our goats.’