Bosco the dog appeared unfazed Saturday by criticism in a Chinese communist newspaper of his unofficial election of mayor of his hometown.
Bosco warmly greeted residents and visitors in front of a downtown market and cafe, just a day after the People's Daily published a scathing front page editorial denunciation of Western democracy based on the canine's popularity with the voters of Sunol.Bosco's 1981 election as "mayor" proves that American democracy is going to the dogs, the Communist Party newspaper said in the editorial, published a day after the U.S. State Department issued a report criticizing China for human rights violations.
Bosco, a 10-year-old black Labrador retriever whose owner coined the campaign slogan "A bone in every dish, a cat in every tree and fireplug at every corner," was elected honorary mayor of Sunol in a mock election the hamlet's 800 residents held nine years ago as the culmination of a barroom joke.
The town, located 40 miles southeast of San Francisco, is actually governed by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
Bosco routinely patrols Sunol's Main Street, accepting a salary of beef jerky and friendly pats on the head from the voters.