On Saturday, June 14, Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot when a gunman showed up at their home posing as a police officer.
The assailant, now in custody, also shot and injured another state lawmaker, Senator John Hoffman, and his wife. Officials say the gunman had plans to shoot a number of Democratic politicians and that the attack was “politically motivated.”
While the loss of the Hortmans is devastating, the heartbreak has been amplified by the news that the family’s beloved rescue dog, Gilbert, was also killed in the shooting.
Rep. Erin Koegel, a member of the Minnesota House, shared on the social media site X on Sunday that the Hortman children had to make the difficult decision to put down the family’s golden retriever after the shooting.
“Gilbert wasn’t going to survive. Melissa loved that dog,” Koegel said. “She trained him as a service dog. He flunked out of school and she was so happy he failed so he could stay! She needed him in heaven with her.”
Gilbert was a trainee of Helping Paws, Inc., a Minnesota-based nonprofit that trains assistance and service dogs to improve the lives of veterans and first responders, as well as people with physical disabilities and PTSD.
In the past few days — the organization’s executive director, Alyssa Golob, told Good Good Good — people have shared an outpouring of support through donations in Gilbert’s name.
“Our donations have gone up over the past few days; we’re being flooded with generosity,” Golob said in a phone interview.
“People are looking for an outlet for pain, and I think the story of Gilbert and the Hortmans has just resonated with people. When you have no control, you do something to make you feel like you have some control.”
While the goal is to establish a fund in the Hortmans’ name to continue training service animals for veterans and first responders, Golob said the organization is not in a rush.
“We want to be able to talk to the kids and do right by them,” she added.
According to Golob, the Hortman family has about a 10-year history of supporting the organization, first training a service dog, Minnie, who graduated and was placed with a veteran handler.
Melissa came forward with the intent to train her own dog, Gilbert.
Golob said Gilbert was what they call “a career change.”
“He didn’t want to be a service dog; he wanted to be the Hortman’s dog,” she said. “That was his purpose, and that’s what he chose.”
On Monday, the organization shared the news of Gilbert’s passing.
“This is a profound loss for the entire Helping Paws community,” the nonprofit shared on social media. “We are mourning the loss of two dedicated volunteers and one of our beloved dogs who once trained in our program.”
Commenters poured in to grieve the loss, and Gilbert even got a memorial shout-out from popular social media account We Rate Dogs, encouraging followers to donate to Helping Paws in Gilbert’s memory.
“My humans donated in honor of Gilbert and his humans,” reads a comment from a dog’s Instagram account. “Thank you for your service to the community.”
For Golob, who has long known the Hortman family and their canine companions, she is grateful to share her grief with the community and finds peace in Gilbert’s memory.
“Knowing that he was by their side in the trauma of it all gives us a little peace that he was doing his job,” Golob said. “He was trying to take care of his people.”
Golob also extended her best wishes to the Hoffmans, as well as the Hortmans’ children, Sophie and Colin.
The children issued a statement about their parents’ passing yesterday, encouraging people to honor the memory of Melissa and Mark:
“Please consider the following,” they wrote.
“Plant a tree. Visit a local park and make use of their amenities, especially a bike trail. Pet a dog. A golden retriever is ideal, but any will do. Tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it. Bake something — bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa, and share it with someone. Try a new hobby and enjoy learning something. Stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace.”
Header image courtesy of Helping Paws, Inc.
