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