U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, pushed back against allegations this week that she shot and killed her neighbor’s dog, a husky named Omega, and documents from law enforcement corroborate the congresswoman’s denial.
Public records obtained from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office show that two dogs had been shot and killed on or near Boebert’s property in Silt over the course of a year.
Both dogs were shot after they attacked and killed other animals in the neighborhood, Garfield County Sheriff’s Office records show, including some of Boebert’s goats, animals she references often on the campaign trail.
A different neighbor, not Boebert, told police he shot and killed both dogs after the attacks, the records show. The Denver Post is not naming the neighbor — who could not immediately be reached for comment — because he is not charged with a crime.
The owner of the dogs, Yaritza Mendoza, who first leveled the allegation against Boebert, was cited after the August shooting for possessing a “vicious animal” and for failing to keep it off her neighbors’ property. She pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month.
Mendoza, who declined to comment for this story, posted her story on Facebook Sunday as a letter addressed to Boebert.
“It took me a while to find the courage to want to publicly talk about the emotional (trauma) you caused me along with many others,” Mendoza wrote in the post, which has since been deleted. “I was scared of the power you hold as a U.S. representative for Colorado’s 3rd congressional district.”
“On August 17th, 2022 you took my best friend away with the ‘power’ of your gun,” Mendoza continued.
The allegations spread widely over social media, especially among those opposed to Boebert’s reelection campaign.
Boebert responded to the allegations on Twitter.
“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. A neighbor told the police that he shot two dogs,” Boebert wrote.
“As I understand it, the dogs he shot were wounding and killing livestock in our neighborhood including several of our family’s goats,” Boebert continued. “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 dog.”
Mendoza reported to Garfield County Deputy James Roe that someone had shot her dog, Omega, according to the deputy’s incident report.
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During the course of his investigation, Roe wrote that he spoke with Boebert who then put him in touch with her neighbor. That neighbor acknowledged that he “had shot the dog and shot at another dog because they were in the corral chasing (Boebert’s) goats.”
He heard the dogs “attacking the goats earlier this morning,” Roe wrote. And he “came to the property and observed 2 dogs ‘Chewing’ on the goats.”
The neighbor said “he shot the husky-looking dog and shot at the other one,” with a .22-caliber rifle, Roe continued. He was “not sure if he hit the other dog.”
The neighbor then explained that this was the second time that Mendoza’s dogs had attacked livestock in the area, Roe wrote.
Additional documents from the sheriff’s office show that the neighbor shot and killed a Saint Bernard last October under similar circumstances. Mendoza was not cited for that incident, nor was the neighbor.
Source: Orange County Register
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