You see, Bosco just likes to ride, and he and his owner weren’t about to let the Nanny State deprive them of the pleasures of the open road.
Bosco, a New Jersey dog who insisted on taking rides on his owner’s motorcycle, found himself entangled in a court case which charged that his owner, Gyula Szatmari, was guilty of animal cruelty.
“He would be crying when I would take my bike, and then I made something for him and I put him on the front of the bike,” Szatmari said.
“I told them I’ve been driving through your town for six and a half years,” Szatmari said. “You’re pulling me over now?”
Szatmari said Bosco regularly rides with him in his tractor trailer, and added that Bosco took to the bike right away and refused to be denied whenever he got a chance to ride on the motorcycle.
“I came to a red light the first time I rode him and a guy goes, ‘How long did it take you to teach him to do that on a bike?’ I told him this is the first day,” Szatmari said.
Authorities weren’t amused, as authorities tend to be when confronted with any deviation from the norm, and took Szatmari to court.
“It was hectic but it really bugged me out I had to get a lawyer I’m glad it’s over,” Szatmari said after the matter was settled. “I never had a problem nowhere else. You know, my friend was telling me they’re making a commercial Harley Davidson’s commercial with a dog on the front of the bike.”
Authorities dropped the animal cruelty charge against Szatmari this week. To resolve the issue, Szatmari pleaded guilty to an unsafe driving charge. The 56-year-old paid $449 in fines and court costs in Municipal Court.
The whole issue began when Szatmari was headed home from his job in August when he was pulled over in the rain in Marlboro. He was issued citations for careless driving and the improper transportation of an animal.
Szatmari said he’s never been questioned about riding with Bosco in any other county in the state, or for that matter, any other state where he and his pal have ridden their bike.
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