Posted on 06/28/2007 10:54:55 AM PDT by jmyrlefuller
ABC News' Jake Tapper Reports: Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., has angered animal rights activists for strapping his dog to the roof of his car on a family trip from Boston to Ontario, Canada.
According to the Boston Globe, in one of the family's 12-hour drives to their family's cottage in Canada over 25 years ago, Romney strapped a dog carrier to the roof of the car for the whole trip -- with the family Irish setter, Seamus, inside.
Seamus protested in a scatological way, going to the bathroom on the roof of the car.
Animal rights activists reached by TIME Magazine said the tale seems a little cruel.
"It is commonsense 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," Time quoted Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as saying.
Newkirk said it was "a lesson in cruelty that was ... wrong for [his children] to witness."
“...and the dog was going to the bathroom on the roof of the car.”
Wow. That’s amazing!
25 years ago noone wore seatbelts anc hcildren did not sit in car seats.
THE HORROR!
Next up: Jake Tapper reports that Mitt Romney once used a urinal and didn’t flush or wash his hands.
“losing control of his bowels”
Say no more...
This will end up the top headline on the big 3 tonight.
There is the money propaganda.
ABC News would like us to know that Romney is cold and heartless and if elected President he would engage in TORTURE
. Yes Mitt Romney would torture terrorists, your grandma and innocent pets if elected President of the United States.
The MSM just makes me puke.
Could be worse.
The dog could have been Terri Schiavo.
He probably just wants his ears to flap in the wind so he can pretend he is flying. Both my kids wanted to do when they were young. In my youth I caught a bee out the car window; it really put a damper on the idea of face in the wind.
I predict if the MSM bastards discover that he put panties over the dog’s head as well, then Romney is finished.
If I remember correctly, Chevy Chase tied Aunt Edna’s dog to the car bumper when he went on vacation.
And you wanna criticize Mitt?
At least his dog didn’t end up as road pizza in Chapaqua like Bill and Hill’s dog Buddy...
“In my youth I caught a bee out the car window; it really put a damper on the idea of face in the wind.”
Then take my advice, avoid motorcycles.
When this old world starts a getting me down,
and people are just too much for me to face.
I’ll climb way up to the top of the stairs and all my cares just drift right into space.
On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be and there the world below don’t bother me, no, no.
So when I come home feeling tired and beat, I’ll go up where the air is fresh and sweet.
I’ll get far away from the hustling crowd and all the rat-race noise down in the street.
On the roof, that’s the only place I know, look at the city, baby.
Where you just have to wish to make it so, let’s go up on the roof.
And at night the stars, they put on a show for free.
And, darling, you can share it all with me, that’s what I said, keep on telling you
That right smack dab in the middle of town , I found a paradise that’s trouble-proof.
And if this old world starts a getting you down, there’s room enough for two
up on the roof, up on the roof, up on the roof.
Everything is all right, every thing is all right.
You got the stars above and the city lights below, let’s go up on the roof.
I now like him a lot and would feel completely comfortable voting for him if he wins the primary.
The dog probably just had to crap regardless of where he happened to be at the time, not out of any "protest".
...
"It is commonsense 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,"
Maybe the dog was constipated, and Mitt was trying to "get things moving" in a holistic, drug-free way (i.e. no Ex-lax)?
There is a reason hard-core bikers without either never smile when riding.
Boy, I see I got beaten to that one a couple of dozen times. :-)
The reporter intended the anecdote that opened part four of the Boston Globe’s profile of Mitt Romney to illustrate, as the story said, “emotion-free crisis management”: Father deals with minor — but gross — incident during a 1983 family vacation, and saves the day. But the details of the event are more than unseemly — they may, in fact, be illegal.
The incident: dog excrement found on the roof and windows of the Romney station wagon. How it got there: Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus’s rather visceral protest.
Massachusetts’s 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.” An officer for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals responded to a description of the situation saying “it’s definitely something I’d want to check out.” The officer, Nadia Branca, declined to give a definitive opinion on whether Romney broke the law but did note that it’s against state law to have a dog in an open bed of a pick-up truck, and “if the dog was being carried in a way that endangers it, that would be illegal.” And while it appears that the statute of limitations has probably passed, Stacey Wolf, attorney and legislative director for the ASPCA, said “even if it turns out to not be against the law at the time, in the district, we’d hope that people would use common sense...Any manner of transporting a dog that places the animal in serious danger is something that we’d think is inappropriate...I can’t speak to the accuracy of the case, but it raises concerns about the judgment used in this particular situation.”
Wow — what a scoop! Twenty-three years ago, Romney made an error in judgment about his dog’s accommodations on a long trip. This is what passes for news at Time Magazine these days; a lengthy exposition on the statute of limitations for dog carrier violations, complete with opinions from SPCA and PETA.
I’ll grant that strapping the carrier to the roof of the vehicle was rather foolish and not particularly wise. When the dog got sick, Mitt should have pulled off the road, cleaned up, and figured out another plan for Seamus. At the least, he should have made sure that he wasn’t flinging dog feces on the cars behind him.
And while deconstructing the relative options in this 23-year-old incident might make for a mildly amusing blog post, can someone explain why this story has so much weight that Time Magazine (”in partnership with CNN”) considers it important enough to publish, even as an Internet article? Is this the result of those multiple levels of editorial control? Will Time Magazine start dropping into candidates’ back yards to inspect dog droppings, ensuring the safety and good treatment of family pets of both parties? There will be voters casting ballots in this election who weren’t even born when this incident occurred.
Besides, the woman who promoted Washingtonienne should be the last person to criticize someone leaving a trail of s**t.
— Ed Morrissey, http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/010371.php
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