Jenelle Evans Slams Cops for Claiming She Fabricated Dead Dog Story as PR Stunt: 'I Feel Attacked'

Jenelle Evans has responded to allegations that she lied about her husband David Eason allegedly shooting and killing her dog earlier this year as a PR stunt.

On Thursday, the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina announced in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that Eason would not face animal cruelty charges after former Teen Mom 2 star Evans told investigators she’d fabricated the story “for publicity,” saying Evans’ admission came after several visits to the family’s home, none of which yielded any physical evidence to back up the claims.

In an interview with The Hollywood Gossip, Evans — who was fired from Teen Mom 2 after the incident — fired back at the allegations.

“I never made a report against David in the first place,” she said. “The cops called me and left me voicemail asking me to call them back about the ‘dog incident.’ “

“I called back the Chief of Police because he wanted to speak with me the beginning of May 2019,” she continued. “When I called him, before I can even speak, he said to me, ‘Mrs. Eason, I need to know the truth about this situation. I have many media outlets calling me about it and I want to tell you right now if this is a publicity stunt you need to tell me because I have other cases including things like rape that I have to deal with. If you are doing it for publicity then I understand and will close the case and you can go about your business.’ “

Evans said she told the officer, “Yes, what you heard is true about my dog. This isn’t a publicity stunt and I’m not sure where my dog is or what happened to my dog but you would have to call David and ask. I was inside my house with my kids when David went outside with the dog.”

Evans told the outlet that police ended their investigation “a month ago.”

“I honestly think they are doing this for their own publicity because they could have wrote up their ‘press release’ weeks ago,” she claimed. “I’ve never in my life dealt with a police department ever ‘releasing a press statement’ about their investigations.”

“I feel very attacked and exploited for no reason,” she added.

A spokesperson for the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office told PEOPLE on Friday, “We will not be responding to Jenelle’s comments.”

On April 30, Eason, who himself was fired by MTV last year over alleged homophobic tweets, posted a video of the dog, Nugget, becoming aggressive toward the couple’s daughter Ensley as she tried to hug him. He also shared a photo showing a scratch mark on the 2-year-old’s face.

“I don’t give a damn what animal bites my baby on the face… whether it be your dog or mine, a dog is a dog and I don’t put up with that s— at all,” he wrote. “I’m all about protecting my family, it is my life’s mission. Some people are worth killing or dying for and my family means that much to me. You can hate me all you want but this isn’t the first time the dog bit Ensley aggressively. The only person that can judge wether or not a animal is a danger to MY CHILD is ME.”

Evans confirmed Nugget’s death the following day, sharing a photo of the French Bulldog sitting on her lap.

“Nugget… I’m crying everyday,” she wrote. “I love you so much and I’m so sorry. I’m speechless. You were my side kick and knew the moment I felt bad and would cuddle with me. You still had a lot to learn and a lot to grow from your lessons. Everyday I wake up you’re not here, when I come home you’re not here, when I go to bed… you’re not here. You’re gone forever and there’s no coming back.”

At the time, a source told PEOPLE that Evans stopped speaking to Eason after the incident occurred.

“David shot the dog after it came after Ensley,” the source said on May 1. “Jenelle has all the kids with her and is not talking to David right now. She’s very upset and is taking time to figure out what she wants to do.”

In Thursday’s statement, the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office said they launched an investigation into the incident on May 1 after Evans called authorities and said Eason had thrown her dog outside on April 29 for biting their daughter. According to the statement, Evans, 27, claimed Eason, 31, subsequently shot the dog, though she did not witness the incident and only heard a gunshot.

Two weeks later, on May 13, a search warrant was executed on Eason’s home, and authorities said they found no weapons, blood evidence, or anything else that could confirm a dog had been shot and killed on the property.

According to the statement, the next day, Evans spoke with Columbus County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigators about her allegations, and police said her accounts were “inconsistent” with her original story, as she told investigators this time that she did not hear or see anything to indicate Eason had shot her dog.

“Jenelle advised that ‘She don’t know where the dog is.’ She also advised that ‘I don’t know if she was shot or killed or not,’ ” the statement read. “Jenelle stated that the reason she filed the animal cruelty report was for the publicity and because she did not know where her dog was.”

RELATED: Jenelle Evans Breaks Silence on Being Fired from Teen Mom 2: ‘I’m Working to Fix My Marriage’

The statement came just two days after Evans, who recently regained custody of her children, seemingly confirmed Eason’s involvement in her dog’s death during a Q&A on her Instagram Story.

“Honestly, yes, we were on bad terms for almost a week. Didn’t talk much. He knows how upset it made me,” she replied to a fan who asked if it was a “hard decision to stay with David.”

“Now that we are getting over this incident our relationship has got a lot stronger,” she said, adding that Eason has completed anger management.

Evans and Eason tied the knot in September 2017. In addition to Ensley, the reality star is also mom to 9-year-old son Jace and 5-year-old son Kaiser from previous relationships.