I am somehow certain that when Mitt Romney relayed this story to the Boston Globe, he was thinking this would show his cool and efficient crisis management abilities. Instead, this touching tale of a family vacation may well lose votes for him. The article last week certainly got people talking. Unfortunately for him, and for his Irish Setter Seamus, it was negative, and deservedly so in my personal opinion and in the opinion of animal rights activists, news agencies, and bloggers everywhere.
In 1983 he loaded the station wagon for a 12 hour family trip from Boston to Ontario. The Romneys loaded up the kiddies, then the Mittster put Seamus into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon. Uncomfortable and stressed, Seamus had a natural reaction, one any of us might have if riding in a cage atop a car on the freeway. When son Tagg observed a brown runoff on the back windshield, otherwise known as diarrhea, Romney calmly stopped and hosed dog, kennel, and car down with cold water. I doubt this added to the comfort of Seamus.
Ingrid Newkirk, of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told Time magazine's "Swampland" blog:
"If you wouldn't strap your child to the roof of your car, you have no business doing that to the family dog!"
"Massachusetts animal cruelty laws specifically prohibit anyone from carrying an animal `in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon,'" wrote Steve Benen in a post on the blog "Crooks and Liars." Romney dismissed it by saying the dog enjoyed riding atop the car, even looked forward to it.
I say we strap Romney atop his campaign bus for `12 hours, and if he’s not feeling well, a hosing of cold water ought to do the trick. Romney Accused Of Mistreating Family Dog ABCNews.com
If you are a real Conservative, then animals are for eatin' and ownin'
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