Would you
strap the family dog on top of a car for 12 hours? Would you feed,
water, and potty the dog? Mitt did, and didn’t; see this video before you
vote.
Will it be Human Rights or
Animal Rights
in
2012?
Mitt Romney's Dogs
As the 2012 Presidential
campaign heats up, dog owners may want to consider if candidate Mitt
Romney’s trip with a dog strapped on the roof of his car reflects
good judgment.
We were looking
for information on how Mitt Romney feels about pets. You probably
already know what Rick Santorum thinks about dog ownership but this
report on
Santorum and PAWS in TheDogPress lays it out there, photos and
all. The sad fact is that none of the candidates measure up as dog
friendly like those in
Presidential Pets
The Boston Globe
reported in 1983 that the Romney family made a 12 hour drive from
Boston to Canada with Seamus, the Irish Setter, in a crate strapped
to the roof of the station wagon. ABC revived the story in early
January when Newt Gringrich released a web ad with a video and story
about Mitt Romney’s poor judgment.
Romney’s
response was “This is a completely air-tight kennel, mounted on the
top of our car.” Dog owners perked their ears at the “air-tight”
phrase but when Mitt Romney defended his actions by saying “He was
in a kennel at home a great deal of time as well. It was where he
was comfortable” it made their ruffs stand up. That sounds like the
dog was crated a lot. View the video below and a few more facts
that have been pretty well buried in the press.
As usual,
there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Did anyone climb up
there to take the 75 pound dog out to potty during the trip? The
answer to that sounds like “NO” according to Romney’s own website
that describes his oldest son noticing a “brown liquid running down
the rear window of the family’s station wagon” whereupon Romney
pulled off the highway into a service station where he borrowed a
hose to wash down the dog and the car. Offered as an example of
Mitt Romney’s managerial skill and expediency, his site says it
typifies “emotion-free crisis management."
The widely
reported “dog on the roof of his car” has been characterized by many
as animal cruelty. PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk called the incident "a
lesson in cruelty” and stated the obvious “it is common sense that
any dog who's under extreme stress might show that stress by losing
control of his bowels: that alone should have been sufficient
indication that the dog was, basically, being tortured."
Here’s one of
many Romney videos of the story which has come alive again. Watch and
decide if it is important enough to consider when casting your vote.
In his defense, Romney’s
wife Ann says Seamus was their first dog. He was allowed to sleep on the bed,
and hang his head out the car window. One portrays a loving owner; the other
again shows poor judgment. Dogs love to ride with the wind whipping their face
and ears. They don’t know about losing an eye from bugs or flying gravel but
thoughtful owners do. According to AboutMittRomney, the Irish Setter strayed a
lot so a few years after his ride to Canada, he was given to Mitt’s sister in
California.
A succession of specific
purebreds followed. Ann Romney says “We are a
dog family. Casey was our Bichon, McKenzie our Golden, and Marley our
Weimaraner. Marley had 8 puppies, which Mitt delivered all night for her one
summer. When she died last year, she was in Mitt and our arms, and we all
cried. Yes, we love our dogs."
POLITICAL
PERSPECTIVES
