Help Jasper Win $500 on Facebook

This is Jasper. You can see what a talented and endearing fellow he is!

You can help him win $500 for the Plano Animal Shelter if you Like Jasper on Facebook.

Those of you who know me, know that I am clueless about Facebook. Many of you think I don't want to be your friend, because I haven't figured out how to accept a friend on Facebook, or much else for that matter!

But Debbie New from the Plano Animal Shelter says you can go to http://www.facebook.com/GoJasper and "Like" Jasper.

If you know how to make Facebook work, please help Jasper and Debbie and the Plano Animal Shelter by doing whatever it is you do on Facebook to help!

Debbie tells me, "He was returned (to the shelter) because he chewed and was not housetrained. Look at what he has accomplished in just a short time!!!"

What I can tell you about Debbie and the Plano Animal Shelter is that they do an outstanding job of placing dogs, and they reserve us for only "Last Resort" situations, which is how it should be. And I can tell you that if you take a Plano Shelter dog into your rescue, the dog will come spayed/neutered, clean, healthy, up-to-date on shots -- Debbie and the Plano Shelter do an amazing job! Over the years, we have had several dogs come from Plano and all have been exceptional dogs!

Last Day for Freedom Weekend Food Drive...

Just 16 Bags of Dog Food Needed to Make Goal!

Thanks to YOU!

Bailey says, "Well, we went ahead and did it.

We ordered all 100 bags of dog food today, to get in on the special 15% discount that reduces the cost of a bag of dog food to just $18.69."

"We are counting on our friends to put us over the top! We just need 16 more bags of dog food and we will be at 100! (And the folks at the feed store said we can increase our order if we raise more!!

Come on Team Smiling Dog -- we need to go over the top today!

Please share this link on Facebook and the internet!

We Can Do This! Just click on this link: http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

Butters Can Relax and Be Himself Here

Butters got a rough start in life. His family had allergies to him, so he lived outside and did not get socialized like puppies normally do. After several years of living outdoors and making up his own rules, he became difficult to live with!

Melanie and her husband felt sad for Butters, and offered to take him into their home. But Butters had lived by his own rules for too long, and had no desire to conform to even minimal standards. It is not his fault... still -- it's impossible to make him part of the famly.

Butters will snarl and bite. He is not real fond of people! Melanie believes he is insecure and misunderstood. But that really doesn't change Butters' inability to adapt to living with a family.

So she asked if Butters could come to Smiling Dog Farms, and we said "yes".

Butters still is not fond of humans. But he now has a little friend who loves him, and they romp and play together in Butters' play yard.

Butters is a classic sanctuary dog. He is too unsocialized to live in society around other people. But he has a great time every day chasing squirrels and barking at the birds and playing with his new friend.

Butters is happy in his new life at the farm!

The Freedom Weekend Food Drive ................ Now Just 32% from Goal!

Buddy says, "The Freedom Weekend Food Drive is really close to making our goal!

We want to take advantage of the 4th of July Sale where we buy our kibble!"

"Thank You EVERYONE who has donated a bag of dog food.

Thanks to YOU, we have 68 bags of dog food donated!

Just 32 more to reach our goal of 100 bags!"

"Go Team Smiling Dog!"

Please click on this link to learn more about our Freedom Weekend Food Drive

http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

Rest in Peace, Happy the Boxer...

It is a sad day at Smiling Dog Farms. Happy the boxer died this morning.

Shown here is Happy this past Spring with Yvette, her mommy. This photo was taken at our beach house in Galveston. Happy would travel with us to the beach house, whenever we were there.

Yvette rescued Happy from a shelter in Virginia a couple years ago. Happy was quite old then, and was not expected to live much longer. Yvette did not want Happy to die in a shelter, or be put down before her time.

So she took her home, to let Happy die peacefully in a loving environment.

Except Happy didn't die! She lived on, and as time passed, Yvette faced another dilemma. Yvette is a member of the armed services. She was back in the U.S. but knew she would be deployed back to Iraq soon. And Happy was still alive and well!

Yvette left Happy with a friend when she had to report for duty. But soon the friend could not care for Happy, because Happy's use of her back legs had deteriorated and Yvette's friend could not carry her up and down the stairs to her apartment. (Happy weighed nearly 80 lb!)

So Yvette asked if Happy could come to live out the rest of her life at Smiling Dog Farms. And we said "yes".

That was last Fall. Once again, everyone expected Happy did not have a lot of time left. But she just kept on going! For a while, she lived in a townhome and play yard with several other elderly dogs.

Soon, however, we brought her into the house to live full time, because we feared the end was near. But she surprised us once again, and would go up and down the hallway with her two front legs dragging her body behind her, always interested and eager to see what was going on!

We used to joke that Happy would no doubt still be here waiting when Yvette returned from her deployment this Fall. But it was not to be.

Every time we came to the beach, we brought Happy. She enjoyed sitting in the yard with the other dogs romping all around her.

Her appetite remained strong right up to the very end, and she had a spark of life in her eyes that was unmistakable. Her life had changed, but she never stopped enjoying her life as it evolved.

She lived in Ricky's office. She had a large comforter and "pee pads" under her, to soak up her urine and keep it away from her skin. She had been incontinent since she came to the farm. We made sure she never felt badly for having "accidents" in the house!

About a week ago, she started slowing down measurably. She lost the use of her front legs and needed to be carried from place to place. We knew the end was near. For real this time.

Ricky and I had planned to take a quick two-day vacation at the beach house in Galveston. Of course, Happy piled into the truck behind Ricky and happily made the trip to the beach again. It has become a ritual she recognized and looked forward to.

Saturday afternoon, she laid in the yard with the other dogs, who would stop by to visit with her. Her eyes still said that she was interested and alert, even if her body would no longer do as she wished.

This morning we lost her. We were able to say our good byes and hold her and kiss her one last time before she departed on her journey, to a place where he legs will work perfectly again and she can run like the wind, just as she did so many years ago.

We will miss you, sweet Happy.

Thanks to YOU, the Freedom Weekend Food Drive is at 48%!

Bayou says: "THANK YOU for getting our Freedom Weekend Food Drive off to such a great start! The other dogs and I are pretty excited about this, and really grateful to all of you who are helping us buy dogfood! We really like our kibble. Ricky and Jay buy us kibble that has a really high protein and fat content... 27 and 15... and it tastes good, too!"

Please go to our Freedom Weekend Food Drive Chip In to see how we are doing! Just click here:

http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

Snowing in July?

This is Duke Pendegast. It looks like it has been snowing in his yard... in July!!

Actually, Duke has just dismantled another one of his puffs! You can see from his expression how proud he is of his work! lol

Doskocil Industries in Arlington, TX donated several hundred puffs and dog beds to us a year ago so that all our babies would have a soft place to sleep. Duke sleeps on his for so long, and then he decides its time to take it apart and see what's inside!

Duke is an example of a Sanctuary Dog. He cannot be placed for adoption. Hard as it is to imagine when you see him with that impish grin and his playful manner, he has bitten and mauled his mommy. And he did the same thing one day to one of our team members who went into his yard just to put Frontline on him!

Sadly, Duke is unpredictable and that makes him dangerous to live in society.

So his mommy sent him here to live out his life. It is not the same as laying on the sofa watching Oprah. But it beats taking a needle in the arm, which was his only alternative.

Here at the farm, Duke has an oversize yard his mommy bought for him and he runs and barks at the squirrels and the birds and the dogs in nearby playyards. He gets lots of stimulation.

Duke is a classic example of why Smiling Dog Farms exists. He is a dog who had no where else to go.

And I think you can see from his expression that he is pretty happy here!

We Need YOU to Help Put Us Over the Top...... for the Freedom Weekend Food Drive!

Friday - Saturday - Sunday - Monday

Please click on this link... http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

And send it to your friends on Facebook!

Thank You!

Bosco Wins in Court... Flies to Sanctuary at Smiling Dog Farms!

Bosco, the embattled black lab from Pelham, NH, won his court case on June 14 and was spared the death penalty demanded by that town's police chief. Instead, Bosco was allowed to come live out his life in the sanctuary at Smiling Dog Farms.

Bosco's legal troubles began when he escaped his yard. Roaming the streets of Pelham, he was spotted by Pelham Police Sgt. Pickles, who attempted to pick up Bosco to get him out of harm's way.

Unfortunately, Bosco did not know Sgt. Pickles and communicated to him that he was not comfortable having a stranger pick him up up by nipping the sergeant on the hand. After that, things just spiraled out of control.

Bosco ended up inside the sergeant's patrol car with doors locked. As Bosco sat proudly behind the wheel smiling, several of Pelham's finest stood around the car fuming and fussing.

Everyone who heard the story was amused -- except the Pelham police and their chief of police.

Chief Roark demanded Bosco's death, labeling him a vicious and dangerous dog! I will let the reader make up his own mind about Bosco's level of danger by watching this video of Bosco and his owner saying good bye: http://bcove.me/hgf01rod

Here is Bosco arriving at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport on Saturday, June 25. Note the red lobster toy in front of the crate. That is clearly his favorite toy. He picks it up in his mouth and makes it squeak! This is Bosco in his new home at Smiling Dog Farms. Thanks to Terry Sublette in Denver, CO and his friends, the money was raised to build this new home for Bosco. Note the loft and the ramp to access it. And there is a tall window to allow air to move freely, so that Bosco will have a nice breeze. You can see the puff for Bosco to sleep on behind him. What is not visible in this photo is the metal roofing that covers 1/3 of Bosco's play yard, which provides shade and protection from the rain. That is a feeder bin, on the left of Bosco's townhome. It is always filled with kibble, so Bosco can eat whenever he is hungry. We also have daily "treats" which go in food pans -- some days the treat is baked goods from Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlet and some days it is raw meat from the Houston Food Bank.

This is Bosco exploring his new yard. Note the proximity of his favorite toy, just next to him! He really loves that lobster. Perhaps it reminds him of New England!

This view of Bosco's yard shows that he backs up to the pasture. He has beautiful views. You can see him smiling!

This is Bosco's introduction to Amos and Ona Mae the donkeys. You can't see it in the photo, but there is a fence wire that separates the donkeys from Bosco's yard by about 4'. But they can get very close to one another and check each other out!

What was interesting was that Bosco did not bark and fuss at the donkeys. He was curious about them, but he was not aggressive toward them at all. Notice again the smile on his face!

Here is Bosco with his favorite toy yet again! He spent a lot of time exploring and getting comfortable in his new home. He figured out the feeder bin in no time, and he soon mastered going up the ramp to his loft!

Bosco looks out his window, smiling after a long day of travel and new experiences. He has not yet growled at anyone here, nor shown any signs of aggressive behavior.

We hope to find Bosco a friend to share his townhome and play yard with. Someone to run and play with, and someone to nap with. Once he is fully acclamated to his new home, we will start introducing him to potential friends!

There are many who played a part in Bosco's rescue from certain death. His owner, Deborah, who went to bat for Bosco and got him an attorney to represent his interests, and would not let herself be intimidated by the Pelham Police, who pressured her to let Bosco be killed ... his friend, Mark, who was booted from the rescue which works out of the Pelham Police Department, solely for his advocacy and caring for Bosco... his attorney, Jim O'Rourke, who negotiated the release of Bosco to our sanctuary... Pets In Need, a local Dracut, Massachusetts rescue which provided transport from Pelham PD to the airport... and certainly John Collins from the Lowell Sun and his editor who wrote an editorial supporting Bosco's right to live... these men are examples of the best of American journalism... John Collins wrote articles that provided the truth, while most of the other media outlets in the area simply regurgitated the Pelham Police Chief's spin on the Bosco story.

Here is the link to John's story about Bosco winning in court and preparing for his trip here. The only minor glitch in the story is that we did not raise "thousands" of dollars for Bosco! lol I wish we had! Terry Sublette and his friends raised the money to build Bosco's house. But we still need to fundraise to recoup the $543 we spent for Bosco's airfare. We agreed to pay the money up front so we could get Bosco out of Pelham as fast as possible!

Here is an excellent example of journalism as it should be, without bias or cowtowing to the police chief's distorted version of Bosco's story! http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_18352274?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com

Bosco Goes to Trail Tomorrow, June 14

Many of you have been asking about Bosco. He is the dog from Pelham, New Hampshire who ran afoul of the law for biting an officer -- but ONLY after the officer attempted to pick up Bosco! Since Bosco did not know the man, nor his intentions -- he bit him! Not a horrible, mauling kind of deep wound, but a warning bite that said, "Don't try to pick me up. I don't know you."

His trial has been postponed twice. Meanwhile, Bosco has been kept in "secret" hiding places so that no one Bosco knows can even visit him. The fact that he has been isolated by his tormentors -- the very people who want to see him dead -- worries me that their real intention is to "bait" Bosco into biting someone again, so they can point to that and allege he is just an aggressive dog! (I understand how paranoid that sounds... but keep this in mind: You are only paranoid if you imagine someone is trying to do you harm. If they actually are trying to hurt you, you are not paranoid but perceptive!)

We have a clear plan in place to help Bosco, which Bosco's attorney will be presenting to the court tomorrow. A friend has managed to get Bosco's Chip In completed, so all the money has been raised for Bosco's townhome and playyard here. We have offered to pay for Bosco's air fare. Pets In Need, a rescue in Massachusetts, has offered to pick up Bosco from the police and deliver him to the airport. We have already signed a Release of Liability so that the city of Pelham will no longer be responsible for Bosco or his behavior once they turn him over to Pets In Need. Some of our references have even provided statements for the court about our facility and our practices, so the attacks of the Police Chief from Pelham will be shown to be half-truths and outright lies to justify his bullying behavior. He has never visited the farm! Our references have!!

Please click on this link www.lowellsun.com/ci_18246193?IADID= to a related story about the Pelham Police who TASERed a poor cow! As usual, we can look to John Collins and his newspaper, The Lowell Sun, for truth and honest reporting. If you have any doubts about the barbaric intent of this batch of cops, check out this story and their "reason" to taser the cow!

Someone needs to reign in these animal-abusing cops! I am shocked that the good people of Pelham are tolerating this level of behavior from their alleged protectors! The Pelham cops' refusal to let Bosco come to our sanctuary, and their subsequent refusal to keep Bosco in a neutral third party boarding facility -- as well as their treatment of this cow -- speaks volumes about their attitude toward animals!

You can write a letter to the editor to post your feelings about the Pelham PD at http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk.

You can also call the Town Administrator... ultimately he is responsible for the police chief whose department has such a deplorable track record toward animals. Call Tom Gaydos at (603) 635-2040. Urge your friends to do the same.

Sometimes, We Just Don't Understand...

I know I have not been writing the Smiling Dog Daily News as often as I want to. There just never seems to be enough time.

But I wanted to tell this story because we are at a loss to understand this person's actions! Maybe one of you can see something we are missing!

Today, we received a "dispute" notice from Paypal. Someone from Atlanta donated $10 to Smiling Dog Farms, on May 25, using Paypal. The implication of filing a dispute is that she asked for her money back, and we refused to give it to her.

But that is not what happened. Not even close!

If I had been writing these posts daily, you would all know by now that our former website manager had to quit managing our website for us. She made a huge positive impact on our ability to communicate information, and one of her major accomplishments (among many!) was that she was updating our donor lists daily! When someone donated, their name would go on the donations page right away!

We do have another wonderfully experienced website manager on board. In fact, she is just starting to get in and update data this weekend. Hopefully, she will soon have us back up to speed.

But there has been a period of about six weeks when we have not been able to update our donor lists and our website has just been "frozen" where it was.

I don't know if our failure to recognize her is what motivated this person or not. It was about all I could think of that would make someone want to donate to us, and then two and a half weeks later change their mind.

If anyone else has donated to us for the first time, or signed on as a monthly sponsor in the past six weeks, but has not been recognized on the website yet, we will soon be getting you listed among our donors, who are the lifeblood of Smiling Dog Farms!

So -- back to my story about the lady from Atlanta.

Today we received a "dispute" from Paypal. But here is the part we don't understand.

She had never contacted us directly and asked for her $10 back!

We would have happily given it back to her.

Please don't misunderstand -- we are always working hard to raise funding to support our work with the dogs. But we don't want someone's money if they don't want us to have it! We want our financial supporters to be cheerful givers who donate from their hearts and who want to help our dogs!

Because she did not contact us directly and let us send her a refund of her $10 ...

But instead created a "dispute"...

We not only gave this woman her $10 back, but we were charged $20 by Paypal because it was set up as a dispute!

We wish she had just told us she wanted her $10 back.

As much as we need donations (we have not had a fundraiser since Dec-Jan), it would have been better if this person had never donated in the first place!

Melanie Gets A Family of Her Very Own!

This is Melanie. Today she got a family of her own to love her and appreciate her forever! And it is a great family, too! Sensistive, caring people who understand and consider Melanie's feelings!

Melanie came to Smiling Dog Farms from a local shelter whose Animal Control Officer works very hard, and often on her own time, to find homes for the dogs who come into her shelter. Melanie was running out of time when we called.

We had just taken in a mommy with puppies -- and the mommy suddenly, unexpectedly died the day after arriving! The puppies were too young to wean, so we called the shelter and asked if there was a dog there who could nurse our puppies!

Luckily, Melanie was available! She came to the shelter with a litter of pups, and hers had just been removed... but she still had milk!

We dashed over to the shelter and brought home Melanie, who was the perfect surrogate mommy to that batch of puppies. She was tender and gentle with them, even though they were not her own and did not resemble her in any way.

Today, Melanie was rewarded for her kindness and gentle nature. A very special family chose her to become part of their family. A very happy ending for Melanie!

If Your Dance Card is Not Filled for Saturday Afternoon or Evening, Please Come Join Us!

10th Annual Houston Parrot Club

Mud Bug Ball

This year benefiting Smiling Dog Farms

More fun than a roomful of Jack Russell Terriers!

All the crawfish tails you can eat!!

(if crawfish is not your cup of tea, you can have

a cheeseburger or a chicken sandwich basket!)

Live Music by Dennis Davis and

Jerry Diaz & Hanna's Reef...

SILENT AUCTION - LIVE AUCTION - RAFFLES

Come and Unwind after A Busy Saturday...

Ricky & I Will Be There to Meet Our "Online" Friends!

Tickets are just $25 at the door

Cypress Saloon

12710 Telge Road, Cypress, TX 77429

(290 NW to Telge Rd Exit... then Right to Cypress Saloon)

3 pm to 10 pm

Saturday, April 16

Bosco's Trial Postponed... He Should Not Be "Cared For" by His Tormentors!

Bosco is the New Hampshire lab who bit the hand of a police officer who clumsily tried to pick him up and shove him into his patrol car, because Bosco was running loose on the street. The bite was simply a warning to a stranger whom Bosco did not know or trust.

Still... it was enough to put Bosco on the wrong side of the powerful police chief of Pelham, NH. The chief will settle for nothing less than the blood of Bosco. He wants him dead.

At Bosco's hearing, Tuesday, April 12, the trial was postponed again. However, the prosecutor said that Bosco had been moved again because of some "aggressive moves". Bosco is still at an undisclosed location with no outside organization or agency to supervise his care or guarantee his ethical treatment.

Immediately after the bite incident with the officer, Bosco was confined to the animal shelter operated by the Pelham police and a local rescue group. While in the slammer, Bosco was befriended by a local rescuer, who gave Bosco some love and attention while incarcerated. This volunteer's only sin was to love Bosco and give him much-needed human contact and kindness. The volunteer was summarily kicked out of the rescue group and allegedly told by Pelham's finest never to return to the shelter!

And then Bosco was removed to an undisclosed location and denied any visits by anyone who cared about him.

Charles Manson... Jeffrey Dahmer... Ted Bundy were allowed visits from those who loved them, and their care during incarceration was open to public scrutiny.

Does Bosco not deserve at least the same level of protection?

My worry is that the Pelham police might be baiting Bosco to behave aggressively, since he is kept in a secret dungeon of the chief's devising, with no one to look after Bosco's interests and insure his proper treatment. They can then use this manufactured "evidence" against Bosco.

I know. You are saying that I sound paranoid.

But keep this in mind: you are only paranoid if you imagine someone is trying to hurt you. If someone really is trying to harm you, you are not paranoid -- just perceptive!

Bosco should NOT be "cared for" by his tormentors, but by a disinterested third party boarding facility. Anything less is not just unfair, but invites abuse of power.

I am asking some of my friends in rescue to bring Bosco's deplorable situation to the attention of PETA and other national organizations devoted to the ethical treatment of animals.

You learn a lot about a man's character by the way he treats those with less power and influence than himself. Chief Roark's behavior toward Bosco, a dog with no inherent constitutional rights, is a cautionary tale for the residents of Pelham. Keeping Bosco in secret, hidden locations, separated from those who love him and the prying eyes of journalists or animal activists who would watch out for Bosco's interests tells you where your chief is coming from, so to speak.

Austin and Dinah Join Us at the Beach...

This is Dinah, on the left, and Austin, on the right. They are in the backseat of our car, after we met Deana up in Houston to pick them up. Special thanks to Deana, who drove from Centerville to Houston, and Mary Ann, who drove from Garland to Centerville, after she picked up Dinah and Austin at the Garland Shelter! And Thank You to all of you who called or emailed, offering to help Austin and Dinah get to safety! You provided an outpouring of offers to transport these special dogs who were out of time and had no where else to go!

Austin is more curious and active than Dinah.

Ricky and I are still working in Galveston on one of our rental properties, so we brought them to the beach house where we are staying for the next several days while we work here.

We have already learned that Austin is not crate trained at all! After spending the afternoon in the back yard, we put Austin and Dinah in crates while we left to run some errands. When we returned, Austin had demolished his crate and was happily running through the recreation room, amidst a sea of opened Beggin Strips bags! Dinah was content to wait patiently for us in her crate! She is a very sweet girl who is more shy than Austin.

However, once you gain her trust, if you stop petting her, she will tap-tap-tap at you to keep petting her!

Austin and Dinah came from the Garland Shelter where they were totally out of time. They have lived together their entire lives, and must be placed for adoption together. We will not separate them!

Austin's exuberance will make placing Dinah and Austin a bit tougher, because he will require a savvy, experienced family who can come up with ways to contain him! Still, it will be worth the effort to have two loving companion animals as part of the family!

Video About Friendship...

There is nothing new to report about Bosco. His trial is set for April 12. It looks like the judge will be the one deciding Bosco's fate. I ran across this video clip, which you may have seen already. But the message bears repeating, as you watch the duck and the dog, together... friends! . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKoaJA7Vlc

OUTSTANDING Editorial in Lowell Sun...

Please take a moment to read this editorial in the Lowell Sun, the largest and most influential daily newspaper along the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with readers in both states. It was written by Editor-In-Chief Jim Campanini.

http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_17680401

Bosco supporters are going to LOVE it! Mr. Campanini says what we all have been thinking -- he just does it more eloquently than we could!

I also want to point out, again, John Collins of the Lowell Sun has written a series of stories about Bosco and his plight that have been both reasonable and fair, unlike the Channel 9 TV story told strictly from the chief's viewpoint, without telling Bosco's side.

You will smile when you read today's editorial. Then I would suggest sending a Thank You note to Mr. Campanini and Mr. Collins for telling Bosco's story truthfully and fairly. You can use the Letter to the Editor format and share your thank you by clicking on http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk

And for all our friends in the New England region, we strongly urge you to read and subscribe to the Lowell Sun, as well as patronize their advertisers -- and let those advertisers know you are shopping there because of their ad in the Lowell Sun.

The newspaper business is getting tougher and tougher, with competition from the internet and TV. We want to make sure we support those media outlets which are not afraid to speak the truth, even in the face of pressure from powerful government leaders.

Dogs rarely get to tell their story in an unbiased way. They are not a powerful interest group and do not command large blocks of voters, to entice public officials to cozy up to them. The deck is always stacked against dogs.

All we wanted was the truth about Bosco to be told. Those of us who support Bosco's right to live just ask for all the facts to be told, fairly and responsibly.

The Lowell Sun has been an unerring voice for honesty and truth in its reporting of Bosco's story, and they have not caved to pressure from the powerful in local government. That is not easy to come by in modern America.

Bank Account Is Running Low...

Caitlynn says, I hate to write about money, but we are running low at the bank again.

If you or someone you know could help us with a one-time donation...

or sign up as a sponsor for one of our dogs listed on our website...

that would be a God-Send right now!

Just click on http://smilingdogfarms.org/Donations_Page.html to donate or become a sponsor.

Our End of Year Fundraiser was a little anemic this year. We did not make our goal.

We have also had an unparalleled number of folks who have lost their jobs and had to cancel their monthly sponsorships with us.

I will soon be talking about our Great Hope for a Spring Fundraiser -- a Garage Sale Across America in May! We hope to get many of you and your groups to hold a garage sale the same weekend, from California to Maine, to benefit Smiling Dog Farms. We think we can raise a lot of awareness AND money by planning garage sales everywhere that same weekend!

But we have to make it from now until then!

If we could just get everyone who has sent a dog here to sign up a total of $80/mo in sponsors to pay the cost of maintaining that dog, we would be in great shape! Just 8 people at $10/mo would do the trick!

We explain this when folks ask us to take a dog. We tell them that it costs us $80/mo to pay the salaries of our five full time team members (Ricky and I do not take a dime for our work), to buy dog food and to pay for vet visits and meds, like Heartguard and flea prevention.

But so often, once the dogs are here, folks sort of forget about the cost of maintaining their dog!

If you don't have any money to send, but you'd like to help us by donating time sending out emails for us, please contact me at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org

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One time donations put money in the bank and help us get over the hump.

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Monthly sponsors help us month-in and month-out with the ongoing expenses of operating a dog sanctuary and rescue like Smiling Dog Farms.

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If you have donated to us, or if you are a monthly sponsor, or if you have done both,

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Thank You!

We are still here, helping dogs, because of YOU

Your donations literally SAVE LIVES!

Bosco's New Day In Court...

Bosco's attorney and owner appeared in court yesterday, March 21. They pled not guilty to all charges and the hearing was moved forward to April 12. This will allow Bosco's attorney, Jim O'Roarke, time for "discovery", which means he will get to see exactly what the police department is going to allege against Bosco and his owner.

The police chief, Joseph Roark, has been misstating that Bosco bit a little girl in the face during the alleged Christmas tree incident, so it will be interesting to see if he persists in that characterization! There will be no documentation to support that claim.

The hearing is a bit confusing because it involves more than simply Bosco's right to live. The town is prosecuting Bosco's owner for violating state dog control and nuisance dog laws. And they are asking the court to authorize them to kill Bosco as part of that prosecution.

The town of Pelham does not have to get a court order to allow Bosco to come to the sanctuary. This is in the courts because the police department and its chief are determined that Bosco should pay with his life, even though Sgt Pickles should never have tried to pick up a strange dog without the Animal Control Officer, and the alleged bite of the little girl is in dispute, since the father denied that she had been bitten to Bosco's insurance company! Neither party had a serious injury resulting from the alleged bites.

These incidents do not rise to the level of justifying the killing of Bosco!

Our job is to convince the town of Pelham that Bosco has many, many supporters and convince the decision makers in Pelham that Bosco deserves a chance to live out his life at the sanctuary. We have to go over the head of Chief Roark who has dug in his heels and nothing short of Bosco's death will satisfy him.

We need to convince town administrator, Tom Gaydos, to whom the chief reports, that the chief is not thinking clearly and is allowing his emotion to get in the way of rational thought, regarding Bosco.

Please continue to send emails to Tom Gaydos and the Lowell Sun at the addresses below. (I have included the email address of Chief Roark because many have asked for it. I can tell you from first hand experience trying to work with the chief that it is useless endeavor. He is not interested in facts. His mind is made up and he wants Bosco dead.)

Here are the contacts and their email addresses. Remember to be brief, polite, respectful! That is how we will help Bosco!

Tom Gaydos, town administrator - townadmin@pelhamweb.com

Joseph Roark, police chief - jroark@pelhampolice.com

Lowell Sun newspaper - http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk

Thank you for calling and emailing yesterday! I am certain they were surprised by the sheer numbers of people across the nation who care about what happens to Bosco.

Bosco Needs Your Emails, Phone Calls Today!

This is Bosco. A hearing Mon, March 21 will decide if he lives or dies.

Bosco bit a cop in Pelham, New Hampshire. The police say he is a vicious dog. And he needs to die. Many others say this is a pure vendetta because Bosco embarrassed the Pelham Police and Bosco's actions have not nearly risen to the level of death penalty.

Bosco got loose from his yard. No one denies that if he had stayed in a fenced yard, Bosco would not be in this trouble.

The cop stopped when he saw Bosco by the road and tried to pick him up to get him into his car. Bosco did not know the man who was trying to pick him up and Bosco perceived it as a hostile act. So he defended himself the only way a dog can. He bit him.

On the hand. A single bite. The way any well behaved dog sends a warning to someone whom they see as a threat.

Now anyone with any knowledge of dogs knows that Bosco could have continued to bite the good sergeant, and had he wished, he could have mauled him. That is what truly vicious dogs do.

But Bosco bit him to say, "back away" and he stopped biting.

One could argue that the officer should never have attempted to move Bosco without the aid of the town Animal Control officer (who was in near-by Salem helping out at the time of the incident) or the aid of a catch pole.

Bosco should not have bit the officer. The officer should not have attempted to corral Bosco without the proper tools and the proper personnel. Both could have handled it better.

From the cop's stand point, it was all downhill from there. Bosco jumped onto the front seat of the police car, perched behind the wheel, and somehow managed to lock the sergeant out of his car! As Bosco sat smiling behind the wheel, several of Pelham's finest fumed and fussed from the sidelines, wondering what to do next!

Most observers found the scene amusing!

Not the Pelham police.

You can see Bosco posing for this photo in the middle of these men. I will let the gentle reader draw his own conclusions about whether these men look terrified at being so close to a dog labeled "dangerous" by the Pelham Police Department!

In fairness, this is not Bosco's first bite situation.

Bosco's family sells Christmas trees from their driveway in Pelham. A little over a year ago, a man and his daughter were shopping for a Christmas tree when Bosco allegedly bit the girl. I say allegedly because there is significant confusion about the incident.

The Pelham Police have been blasting Bosco for biting a little girl in the face. That is categorically not true. It was the girl's finger that was affected. If he bit her at all.

Because no one saw her get bit. Her dad was 30 feet away on another part of the driveway when the alleged incident occurred. Some who were present suggested she may have cut her finger on a saw that was present, and she was afraid to tell her father she had touched the saw. Those same people said that she was not crying or reacting, as one would expect if a large dog had just attacked her! There was no blood on the girl!

The insurance carrier for Bosco's family contacted the girl's father after the alleged incident... and he denied that she was ever bitten at all! The insurance company closed the case!

There is just too much confusion and conflicting information to even state categorically that Bosco actually bit the girl. But if he did, it was clearly not serious and certainly nothing like the Pelham PD and its chief are alleging!

Once again, one can argue that Bosco's owners should not allow him to mingle with Christmas tree shoppers, and you will get no argument from me.

But Bosco should not pay the ultimate price for these incidents.

Bosco has been invited to come live at Smiling Dog Farms' sanctuary, where he can live out his life in safety and peace. And the good citizens of Pelham, New Hampshire can feel safe, knowing that Bosco is over 1000 miles away living in a secure facility.

Our farm is 1/2 mile from our nearest neighbor, and five miles from town. Visitors are only allowed with an appointment and with stringent security measures to guarantee they will not be bit.

I will let the reader decide if the Pelham PD and its chief is really concerned about Bosco harming anyone while living in our sanctuary, or whether it is purely "pay back" for Bosco embarrassing one of their officers by commandeering his car!

There really should not be a need for a hearing. I talked to Pelham Police Chief Joseph Roark over a week ago. I told him that not only would we accept Bosco here at our sanctuary, but I also assured him that a well respected local rescue, Pets In Need, headquartered in Dracut, Massachusetts, would pick up Bosco and insure that he would be transported safely to the airport for his trip to Texas. The police would not have to release Bosco back to his family, so there would be no worry about him getting loose again.

The chief led me to believe he was seriously considering this option. That is why I did not write this story a week ago. I thought I was negotiating in good faith with the chief. It is now clear that the chief had no intention of resolving this except by demanding the death penalty for Bosco.

Bosco has a highly regarded attorney, James P. O'Rourke from the Gleason Law Office in Henniker, New Hampshire. He will argue for Bosco's life before the judge on Monday.

John Collins, a writer for the Lowell Sun has written some fair and responsible stories about Bosco. Here are the links to those stories: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_17546034 and http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_17563752 .

What You Can Do...

First Thing Monday Morning...

(Remember... New Hampshire is Eastern Time Zone!)

Contact the town administrator, Tom Gaydos, at (603) 635-2040. Respectfully and politely tell him that it is unconscionable to kill Bosco when he has a sanctuary where he can live out his life, without posing a risk to anyone. Make it brief, professional and to the point. The police chief reports to the Town Administrator, so Mr. Gaydos needs to know that his chief has created an unnecessary mess. He should have allowed Bosco to come to sanctuary.

Email the local newspaper at http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk. Again, keep it polite, professional, respectful and to the point. The shorter your post, the more likely it will get printed.

I am hoping that we can let the decision makers, like Town Administrator Gaydos, and the general public, through the Lowell Sun, know there are many people around the nation supporting Bosco's right to live.

And when those of you who do the Fall leaf tours through New England travel to that region, you may want to remember Bosco's treatment by the city of Pelham, NH and just pass on through their town without stopping. Spend your tourism dollars in other New England communities. Send a message to Pelham, New Hampshire that there are consequences for killing dogs who have better alternatives.

Oz's Story... A Sad Story All Around

This is just a sad story all around, even though you can see that Oz is a pretty happy guy!

His owner in New York City contacted us last Fall, asking if Oz could come to our sanctuary to live out his life. Oz had killed the owner's pomeranian and he did not feel comfortable with Oz around his daughter or in his home any longer.

We said "yes" and Oz came to live here at the farm. You can see from these poses that Oz enjoys it when it's his turn to sleep in the bed with us!

We know that people who send dogs here like to hear about those dogs. And we try to keep families and friends posted, and we always answer their emails. Most folks understand that Ricky and I put in long days here, strictly as volunteers, making sure that everything goes well. Taking photos of our dogs is something we'd like to do, but it does not always get done in the crush of other tasks. It is not our highest priority.

Today, we were blasted with the following attack on Facebook:

"We sent you a dog in October of 2010 named Oz. We just want to make sure he made it alive!!!There are no pictures of Oz on your farm in your website. Please> I beg of you for those concerned and for those who donated for him to have a safe flight and a home. You just recently posted a picture of Ruby and Jones welcome day. Yet we had not seen an inch or a spec of writing on welcoming Oz. Please. Is he alive? Is he on your farm? We are starting to think the worst....Here is our original posting: http://www.facebook.com/l/b6c8a/smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/mypages/view/id/4915a4905811137e ...Please relieve our worries."

This is a sad photo of Ricky holding Oz in front of our TV to prove that as of 2/26 Oz is alive and well and here at the farm. It is sad because Oz is really heavy and hard for Ricky to hold! And it is sad that we need to prove Oz is alive and well.

The writer ignores that back in October, we emailed all interested parties as well as telephoning Oz's owner. Everyone knew he made it to the farm alive and healthy. For the first couple of weeks, Ricky sent texts to Oz's owner every few days. Under these circumstances, for her to say "We just want to make sure he made it alive!!!... We are starting to think the worst" is just over the top.

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A couple months ago, this same woman created a similar stir with similar accusations and demands. We contacted Oz's owner to ask if she spoke for him, and to figure out if he was unhappy with his decision to send Oz here. He assured us that he would talk to this woman and tell her to stop making trouble.

But here we are again, tonight, with the same demands and accusations.

Many dogs' arivals here go unheralded. We do not feature every dog on the blog or on Facebook. Not because we don't want to but because we can only do so much.

One would think this woman would be grateful... not just because we gave Oz his second chance that we think he deserved, but because we place the dogs' care and welfare above Public Relations and photo ops!

Well, those of you who know me, know my computer skills -- or lack thereof! (When I was in school, a computer took up a whole floor of the GM Building in downtown Detroit. High tech meant an electric typewriter!)

And I know even less about Facebook. If you have asked to be my friend on Facebook and I have not replied, it is not because I don't like you!! I have no clue what to do to declare my friendship to all the people who have asked!! I just don't get Facebook, and I doubt I ever will. I am operating with a 1950 model brain and it does not have all the bells and whistles modern brains come with!

Well, I got this unpleasant Facebook message from this unpleasant woman in my email. I read it and felt equal parts of hurt and outrage. So I shot off what I thought was an email to Ricky. Turns out, I sent it straight to Facebook!! lol So this woman -- and I guess everyone else on the planet earth -- got to read my knee-jerk reaction to this hateful Facebook posting!

I am the "A" personality whose emotions are all over the map, and Ricky is the calm, steadying "B" personality. He figured out how to remove my email from Facebook. And then I typed an entry that he posted, since I am clueless how to do that -- well, unless it is by mistake!

We love Oz here at the farm. He has a pathological hatred of other dogs, but he is sweet as pie with humans. As long as we keep him separated from other dogs, he is a really good guy.

But if the family who sent him here is sincerely worried about the way we are caring for him, then Oz needs to go back home. Asking "Is he alive? Is he on your farm" is frankly insulting to Ricky and me. We work too hard for our dogs, put in too many long hours to take this kind of abuse.

There is also a measure of entitlement evident in this woman's diatribe because she sent some money to help with Oz's funding. So we returned her $40 tonight. We need donations, but not so badly that we allow donors to treat us as chattel.

Anyone who contemplates sending a dog here should do their due diligence on the front end, long before a dog embarks on the long journey to the farm. They should contact our references and check with our vet to see what kind of people we are, and what level of care we offer our dogs. Shame on anyone who sends their dog someplace they do not trust!

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I regret that my intemperate email to Ricky (I thought) was published. But I do not regret the sentiments, only the choice of words. If this woman means what she wrote on Facebook, Oz needs to go back home. And if she didn't mean it, she had no right to say it and needs to stop making trouble.

Titan from Seattle Suns Himself at the Farm

Titan must have wondered if he had gotten on the wrong plane, when he arrived here a couple weeks ago and the temps dropped into the 20s and 30s!

We had promised him Florida-like weather! Our unprecedented cold spell is hopefully a part of history, now. We should never see anything like that again!

Today was more like it. Our high was 73 degrees, and our overnight low will drop down to 62 degrees. This is what we expect from winter, around here!

Titan got into trouble back home in Seattle. He bit someone. Technically, two people, but in one incident. Let me describe what happened and you tell me who was to blame!

Titan was on a walk with his new family. A jogger came running up from behind, intently texting and not really watching where she was going. She ran right into Titan, before she noticed him!

Titan was startled to have someone come up from behind and push right into him! A stranger, no less! So he turned around and he bit her. Because he felt attacked!

In the melee, he also bit a man who was trying to help the jogger.

Well, Titan was declared a dangerous dog. His friend Sevia went to work to find a safe haven for Titan, so that he would not have to be put down. She made a lot of phone calls and had a lot of disappointments. It seemed like there was no organization that would take a dog with a bite history, like Titan.

Then Sevia found Smiling Dog Farms. She called and told us Titan's story and asked if we would be willing to take him here. And we said "yes"!

Fortunately, the folks at Seattle Animal Control go above and beyond to help families find a safe place for their dogs who have been declared dangerous. Working with Sevia, they made arrangements for Titan to get a health certificate and an airline approved crate so he could fly to Texas. They even drove him to the airport!

I can say that we are proud of our partnership with Seattle Animal Control and consider them to be one of the most dog-oriented shelters in the nation. We have already accepted another Seattle dog who would have been put down if the folks at Seattle Animal Control had not intervened and suggested our program to the owner! Seattle AC follows all the rules, but they really care about the dogs.

Sevia paid for Titan's townhome and play yard, and she is working to find monthly sponsors to help pay for the day-to-day costs for Titan.

Titan is just glad he had a safe place to come, where he can spend the rest of his days without fear of being put down -- even if he bites us! lol

Deaf Girl Needs a Family of Her Own!

My name is Marylou. I came from BARC, the animal shelter in Houston. Smiling Dog Farms was going to let me hang out at the farm until another rescue took me, but Jay and Ricky said that they would help me find a family of my own!
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They say I have a lot of personality. I guess that is because I like to engage people, and interact with them. I like everyone I meet!
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And I have a LOT of energy! I am still young and average size, approximately 35-40 lb.
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I get along pretty well with other dogs, but I prefer the company of humans! I would love to lay next to you on the sofa... and then maybe you could throw my chew-toy for me to chase!
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Oh... I almost forgot to mention that I am completely deaf. I can't hear you if you speak to me. But I can read your lips and your expression! And you will never have trouble figuring out what I am saying to you! Ha ha. My hearing loss doesn't bother me one bit.
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I am really anxious to have a family to love me and call me their own! Would you like to be my new family? Ricky and Jay said if you want me to come live with you to contact them at Intake@smilingdogfarms.org. They said they have Adoption Partners and friends who will help with homestudies all over the country -- you don't have to live in Texas to adopt me!