No family should have to endure the trauma and heartache this family has. Most of us can agree that our family pets are uniquely special and for anyone, let alone a family member, brutally slaughters a family dog, it should be dealt with seriously. Not only does animal cruelty of this magnatude cut to the core but it is a precursor to violent crimes against people, generally women and children. We can only guess how many animals this monster tortured and killed prior to brutally slaying Lexi. We shutter to think how many he has slayed since being released in bail in late October. Gerard Bosse is a danger to the public. This incident needs to be dealt with in a serious manner and Gerard Bosse needs to be charged fully for his crime. We ask that he NOT be offered a plea bargain and we ask that he be given the maximum penalty allowed. Gerard did not just kill a random dog. He made dinner with his nephews, spent family time with them, before brutally killing their pet dog while they slept. The callousness is mind boggling and this person will not stop here, especially if it is dealt with as though it was a minor crime.

Union Leader Story:

Joshua Bosse is still searching for answers after his brother was accused of slashing his dog’s throat and then throwing her dead body into a neighbor’s dumpster.

Bosse said he doesn’t know why 38-year-old Gerard Bosse allegedly killed his Husky, named Lexi.

She wasn’t a vicious dog, he said.

“The most vicious thing she did was steal a blueberry muffin off the counter,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Gerard Bosse was indicted by a Rockingham County grand jury this month on one count of cruelty to animals alleging that he used a knife to cut the dog’s throat, causing a laceration that led to its death on Oct. 20.

According to a Derry police affidavit, he admitted to police that he killed the dog and disposed of the dog in the dumpster. Police did not indicate a possible motive.

“Why he did it I don’t know,” his brother said.

Police said he surrendered the knife used in the killing along with a bloody pair of pants that he wore.

He has pleaded not guilty and is free on $1,000 bail.

The investigation began when police responded to 1 Mary Jo Lane on Oct. 20 after receiving a report of a dead dog found in a residential dumpster.

A neighbor told police that he went to his dumpster a short time earlier and found blood on the ground. He opened the dumpster and discovered the dog dead in a pool of blood, police said.

Joshua Bosse was quickly identified as the owner.

He said Lexi would often go for a run, but always returned. He said his brother told him that Lexi got out of the house the night before.

“I looked for her in the morning and couldn’t find her. I was going to pick up my son and then my neighbor found her in the dumpster,” he said.

Joshua Bosse said he took his brother in to help him out about a year ago, but after the killing was told to move out.

“It was my brother; I trusted him. I brought him into my home,” he said.

The indictment lists Gerard Bosse as homeless.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary before the killing, according to Joshua Bosse, who said his brother cooked dinner with his kids the night the dog was killed.

“It was family time stuff. He wanted to cook. We ate dinner. Later in the night he killed her in front of the dumpster,” he said.

Lexi was about 10 years old. Bosse said he adopted her three years ago.

“We took her to the dog park all the time. She was more interested in people,” he said.

Lexi preferred being around people more than other animals.

“She was a nice dog,” he said.

rockinghamnews@unionleader.com