by Travis Mateer

In a normal world governed by normal people following normal procedures, a breeder of Malinois dogs in western Montana would probably report a dog bite and case of rabies to the local Health Department. But this, dear readers, is NOT a normal world we inhabit, and David Barsotti is NOT a normal dog breeder.

This picture above is a screenshot I took from a Facebook page for Northwestern Malinois. Does it look like David Barsotti? While I don’t see that signature eye-patch, I do see some tattoos and ginger face-stubble that appears quite similar to the face-stubble I saw on the face of the man standing trial for the domestic abuse charges he received just months before his wife went missing in July of 2021.

Here’s another screenshot indicating this dog thing is some sort of business and not just a lonely man breeding four-legged friends to keep him company on those cold, western Montana nights in January.

If this is an active business, I’d expect to find something at the Secretary of State’s website, but nothing came up under different combinations of Northwestern Malinois. And that’s too bad, because I’m VERY worried about this comment, which I took a screenshot of before it disappears:

If David Barsotti’s “pillow buddy” did indeed have rabies, and wasn’t just impolitely refusing some kind of after-hours advances by his breeder, I would think the person I spoke with at the Health Department in Mineral County would have told me SOMETHING but, alas, I was told VERY LITTLE about any rabies cases or investigations.

Since local media WOULD be used, were such a risk to the community being investigated, I texted Monte Turner, but his response indicated he knew nothing about any rabies cases and/or pillow buddies having to be put down. Same for the MISSOULA County Health Department. My conclusion from this quick investigation? The claim appears to be bullshit.

Now, this might seem kind of funny, but let me remind readers Rebekah Barsotti is NO LONGER ALIVE while the entire County west of Missoula is under a Writ of Mandamus for failing to enforce laws to keep its citizens safe.

In this kind of lawless environment, I imagine anything that keeps you safe would be the object of veneration. Some men sleep with their guns. David Barsotti sleeps with his dogs. Think I’m unnecessarily playing this up? Here’s another screenshot I’m going to file under YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP!

Maybe this is all just a clever ploy to get a response from those watching this person, a response to things concerning DOGS and NOT things concerning what happened on January 6th, 2023, when a Mineral County Sheriff Deputy allegedly visited David Barsotti’s home. If this law enforcement contact happened, I wonder why? Maybe they just wanted to pay their respects to where David buries his pillow buddies. I think it’s an oak tree. Hmmm.

Anyway, if you appreciate this content, please consider making a financial donation at my about page. And stay tuned for the WEEK IN REVIEW podcast episode, coming Sunday. This week should be a fun one to discuss.

Thanks for reading!