Fact check: Rudy Giuliani’s tweet about Canadian convoy pets being killed is totally wrong

US politician Rudy Giuliani has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of decreeing killing the pets of protesting truckers.

The former mayor of New York has been sharing his thoughts on the “Freedom Convoy” trucker protests that have led to hundreds of arrests and police complaints across the country.

Over the past weekend, the 77-year-old tweeted about the “assault on the peaceful protesters in Ottawa” and called Trudeau a “full fledged FASCIST.”

But his latest take is darker and more bizarre than usual.

“Trudeau has now decreed he will kill the dogs and cats of the protesting truckers,” Giuliani tweeted on Monday. “I guess if that doesn’t work, he will decree the slaughter of their first born.”

Trudeau has now decreed he will kill the dogs and cats of the protesting truckers.

I guess if that doesn’t work, he will decree the slaughter of their first born.

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) February 21, 2022

He’s likely referring to what he believes will happen to the pets of arrested protesters.

It all began with a misunderstood Ottawa By-Law announcement on February 17.

Attention animal owners at demonstration

If you are unable to care for your animal as a result of enforcement actions, your animal will placed into protective care for 8 days, at your cost. After 8 days, if arrangements are not made, your animal will be considered relinquished. pic.twitter.com/OkbXc8RE3c

— Ottawa By-law (@OttawaBylaw) February 17, 2022

“Attention animal owners at demonstration. If you are unable to care for your animal as a result of enforcement actions, your animal will be placed into protective care for 8 days, at your cost,” Ottawa By-law warned on Twitter. “After 8 days, if arrangements are not made, your animal will be considered relinquished.”

The tweet caused a major uproar on social media, with thousands of Canadians declaring with certainty that the capital wanted to kill animals, pushing Ottawa By-law to issue a clarification of the word relinquished.

“I didn’t think I could be shocked any more #Ottawa. Using pets as pawns? What does ‘relinquished’ mean @OttawaBylaw? Euthanasia?” wrote Vivian Bercovici, former Canadian ambassador to Israel, tagging several news organizations in her tweet.

“Relinquished meaning abandoned,” Ottawa By-law replied. “When incarcerated or hospitalized, you cannot bring the dog with you. If the person made arrangements for someone to take care of their animal, perfect. If not, we will bring it to the shelter to receive care, and not left abandoned in home/vehicle.”

One of the earliest and most viral tweets spreading this information is that of right-wing Alberta journalist Keean Bexte. “SHOCK POLICY: Ottawa has given itself the authority to euthanize the pets of truckers if Trudeau imprisons them for more than 8 days,” Bexte tweeted just hours after Ottawa By-law February 17 announcement.

He linked to a news article on his own website. Its homepage displays a digitally altered photo of Trudeau dressed as Adolf Hitler.

It’s not certain but possible that Bexte’s tweet was where Giuliani got the information. While Giuliani does not follow the journalist, his Twitter likes include one of Bexte’s tweets about sanctioning Trudeau.

@rudygiuliani/Twitter

On Twitter, Giuliani has also liked conspiracy theories claiming the Canadian PM is the son of communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro and has shared videos about “destroying the BLM narrative.”

He has no history of tweeting about Trudeau prior to this past weekend, and has only tweeted once about Canada before.