Smokey, the dog that attracted an international following for surviving a brutal beating, being run over by a car and escaping euthanasia, left Ohio on Wednesday with a Tibetan Buddhist nun for his new home at an animal sanctuary in Arizona.
Drolma is director of Tara’s Babies Animal Welfare Sanctuary, which began as a 140-acre ranch to house animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The sanctuary has 70 dogs.
“We’re liberating Smokey from jail,” Drolma said.
Although Smokey’s story has a happy ending, his tale is a sad one. It began after the dog was accused of biting a 2-year-old boy during Memorial Day weekend and was later severely beaten with a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and hit with a car.
The dog originally was given to Greene County Animal Control for euthanasia, which prompted a response from animal rights groups worldwide to save the dog through Facebook sites and petitions.
With the help of donations collected through Facebook and its website, the sanctuary raised about $1,400 to fence in a new yard at the ranch for Smokey, complete with a cedar dog cabin.
“This is the beginning of his new life,” Drolma said. “His arrival at the sanctuary will be the first time in four months he’s been off a leash.”
Although the sanctuary is open to adopting Smokey out eventually, Drolma said that the sanctuary was really his home.
“We take a dog in for life,” she said. “When we take a dog in, it’s their home and they are our pets.”
