With help of Princeton Dinky train conductors, rescue group saves runaway dog

When a little rescue dog with a dyed-blue tail escaped from his new home in Princeton almost two weeks ago, a frantic search for him began. More than 1,000 posters were plastered all over the area. Social media channels were flooded with alerts to look out for Bo and his little blue tail. People frequently asked for updates online about whether the dog had been found.

Conductors on the Princeton Dinky train line began spotting the little runaway pooch on railroad tracks and bridges, sometimes huddled up against a bridge wall just a few feet from the trains that sped by. The conductors updated members of a Blairstown-based rescue group called Buddha Dog Rescue and Recovery whenever there was a Bo sighting, and the conductors slowed the Dinky train down when they approached the area where he was hiding.

Volunteers tried to lure Bo to safer areas, but the stubborn little dog didn’t want to leave the railroad tracks near the bridge. People suspect that he wanted to stay there because he was surviving off of animals that were hit and killed by trains. The volunteers decided they had to set up a trap near the railroad tracks. They only had a small window of time – six to eight minutes between passing trains – to run down the side of the tracks and across a bridge to get to set a trap up and return safely. Then they held their breath and waited.

Bo approached the cage, smelling the scents of rotisserie chicken and hot dogs inside. He couldn’t resist. He took the bait and walked in, and the cage door closed on him. Police officers in West Windsor went out in the pouring rain to carry the trap and the little dog inside it off the tracks. Bo was then taken to the vet, where he was reunited with his former foster mom. When he saw her, he was so happy that he couldn’t stop wagging his tail.