The Romney's And Animal Cruelty

[Unabogie]

So, by now, you probably have heard about Seamus, the Romney's dog who they put in a crate, tied the crate to the roof of their car, then drove 12 hours to their vacation destination. At some point, the dog got so scare it **** itself. Instead of realizing how they were traumatizing the dog, Romney says he hosed the dog down, put it back in the box, and continued his drive.

People who love dogs are rightly horrified.

But there's more. Ann Romney's birthday was this month, and she had a party hosted by a man named Fred Malek. Apparently aside from Malek being one of Nixon's famous "Jew Counters", he did this:

In 1959, a police officer in Peoria, Illinois, discovered five young men acting about as suspiciously as a person could act in one of the city's parks. By "suspiciously," I mean like villain being questioned for murder in an episode of CSI: Miami suspiciously— they were covered in blood (as was the inside of their car), and three of them appeared to be burying something. Turns out, the blood was animal blood. And later, officers discovered a skinned dog on a spit elsewhere in the park, a liquor bottle nearby, which is a visual horrific enough to sort of make you wish that the blood on the men's clothes had been human blood.

What the hell? They killed and cooked a dog for the fun of it?


But that's not all. Here comes Ann Romney, she of the aforementioned party, talking about Seamus, the dog from the car roof.


http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/ann-romney-on-seamus-episode-dog-loved-it

ANN ROMNEY: The dog loved it. The dog was, like–
DIANE SAWYER: But the dog got sick, right?
ANN ROMNEY: Once, he– we traveled all the time and he– he ate the turkey on the counter. I mean, he had the runs. But– he would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for t– in– in– in a kennel for two weeks, so.

You have a quarter billion dollars. You can't afford a dog sitter for two weeks? But either way, what is wrong with the Romneys? Why do they keep trying to excuse this sorry episode? Why can't they just admit it was a terrible mistake and that they wouldn't do it again?

See what she says?

DIANE SAWYER: As we move away from this primary campaign into the next phase– again, on Yahoo, we got two questions most often, first about Seamus– which as you know is out there forever– would you do it again?
MITT ROMNEY: Certainly not with the attention it’s received.

Of course not, she's running for office, for Pete's sake! So the only thing wrong with strapping a dog to the roof of their car for 12 hours and hosing it down with cold water after it got sick from the experience is...it got bad attention?

I'm sorry, but what is wrong with these people?

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Saw the Roms talking with Diane Sawyer* tonight. She'd ask him a question and darned if sounds came out of his mouth, but an actual answer to the question? Perish the thought right this instant.

But yeah, the Seamus thing...there's just no good spin for that one.


*As light a television personality as they come, but it's what was on.

 

[Unabogie]

Saw the Roms talking with Diane Sawyer* tonight. She'd ask him a question and darned if sounds came out of his mouth, but an actual answer to the question? Perish the thought right this instant.

But yeah, the Seamus thing...there's just no good spin for that one.


*As light a television personality as they come, but it's what was on.

I disagree. Here's the good spin.

You know Dianne, I do regret that. At the time we thought we were doing the right thing and trying to bring our family pet with us on vacation, but in hindsight, we didn't handle it well and after hearing from people around the country, I wouldn't do that again and I can see how we didn't do right by Seamus.

Why double down on something so obviously wrong? THAT'S the part that galls.

 

[marplots]

This was the first time I heard about this. At first I was outraged. But the quote in the OP about the dog killing and cooking goes back to 1959. And when I looked up the Romney thing, that's almost 30 years ago.

I don't understand the significance.

 

[Unabogie]

This was the first time I heard about this. At first I was outraged. But the quote in the OP about the dog killing and cooking goes back to 1959. And when I looked up the Romney thing, that's almost 30 years ago.

I don't understand the significance.

Why would tying a dog to the roof of the car until it poos itself, hosing it down, and then saying in 2012 how much the dog "loved it" be insignificant? Or any less outrageous?

30 years ago, Mitt Romney was my age. Why do I know better but Romney gets a pass, considering he and his wife see nothing wrong right now? They keep telling people the dog was happy to be there.

 

[Jarlaxle]

How is what he did any different than a dog riding in a kennel in the bed of a pickup?

Note: my St. Bernard did this many times...from all appearances, he enjoyed it.

 

[Unabogie]

How is what he did any different than a dog riding in a kennel in the bed of a pickup?

Note: my St. Bernard did this many times...from all appearances, he enjoyed it.

For 12 hours until it crapped itself?

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

How is what he did any different than a dog riding in a kennel in the bed of a pickup?

Note: my St. Bernard did this many times...from all appearances, he enjoyed it.

I was also wondering that, but isn't there at least some shelter from 60+ mph winds behind the cab?

Also, as mentioned, just about anything that might be fun and exhilarating can become torture when you're required to do it for 12 hours.

 

[tyr_13]

just about anything that might be fun and exhilarating can become torture when you're required to do it for 12 hours.

That's what she said, and I maintained that to adequately test that hypothesis...

 

[mikedenk]

A few democrats, assorted leftists, and those prone to fake indignation and outrage (but I repeat myself) have been "concerned" with this story for a while now...

Maybe if they keep flogging it for another 6.5 months someone out there might actually care enough to reconsider their vote. Doubtful but I guess it's worth a shot.

 

[marplots]

Why would tying a dog to the roof of the car until it poos itself, hosing it down, and then saying in 2012 how much the dog "loved it" be insignificant? Or any less outrageous?

30 years ago, Mitt Romney was my age. Why do I know better but Romney gets a pass, considering he and his wife see nothing wrong right now? They keep telling people the dog was happy to be there.

I don't think they tied the dog to the roof of the car, did they? Wasn't it in a carrier with a windscreen? And the 12 hour bit. Is the claim that the dog remained confined for all 12 hours? I can't imagine humans driving for 12 hours straight without a break. When they cleaned the dog from the diarrhea, didn't they let it out? When they went through customs to get into Canada, surely the border agents would have mentioned cruelty if that were an issue. I know I've had to show my dog (and papers) any time I've driven into Canada.

The story is a sad one on its merits. What makes it laughable here is the obvious spinning to make it into some sort of Nazi death camp thing. How do you clean a dog when it's got crap all over it? A hose sounds good. Then you towel it off. In between there's some shaking, so don't stand too close.

Was it freezing water? I don't know. I did see a picture of the dog, it was an Irish Setter -- a breed I've never owned, but apparently one that can handle getting wet.

I don't care for Romney and I love dogs. But even I can't manufacture outrage over a thirty year old not-news story. The guy could have done better, as far as I know, he said as much.

 

[Cain]

DS: would you do it again?
MITT ROMNEY: Certainly not with the attention it’s received.

Disturbing. Yet another indication of Romney lacks a moral compass.

 

[Brainster]

I cannot believe that anybody is trying to make anything out of the Seamus story. Dogs do not freak out from riding along on the top of a roof inside a pet carrier; they quite commonly ride in the back of pickup trucks and don't cower down; rather they stick their head out the side. Indeed, if you've ever had a dog inside a car you'll know that it always insists on the window seat with the window down. Which is probably why it was on the roof; with five boys and Mitt and Ann in the car there was nowhere else.

The dog quite obviously got diarrhea from something he ate, not from being scared.

 

[The Don]

The dog quite obviously got diarrhea from something he ate, not from being scared.

How on earth can you possibly know this ?

By all means insist that it's not animal cruelty to confine a dog for 12 hours, claim that it's fine to have them on the roof of a car because it's OK to have them in a pickup and then to suggest that what a dog may enjoy for a few minutes is tolerable for 12 hours (heck, I like a rollercoaster ride but I wouldn't like to be on one for 12 hours).

Yes, what the Romneys did to their dog 30 years ago may not be a big deal but the way in which Mitt Romney is handling the situation is, to me at least, instructive.

 

[Noztradamus]

I don't think they tied the dog to the roof of the car, did they? Wasn't it in a carrier with a windscreen?

Who knows? Mitt originally claimed Seamus was in an airtight box. (Congatulations America. come November you can choose between two scientific ignorants)
Then he claimed he built a windshield for the carrier. Really? Mitt knowing nothing about biology I might believe, but Mitt Romney, Home Handyman?

I suspect anything he might knock together in his backyard shed would be pretty ineffective.

 

[Brown]

I cannot believe that anybody is trying to make anything out of the Seamus story. Dogs do not freak out from riding along on the top of a roof inside a pet carrier; they quite commonly ride in the back of pickup trucks and don't cower down; rather they stick their head out the side. Indeed, if you've ever had a dog inside a car you'll know that it always insists on the window seat with the window down. Which is probably why it was on the roof; with five boys and Mitt and Ann in the car there was nowhere else.

Seems like a non-issue to me, too. The "the dog liked it" tale doesn't sound all that far-fetched. (I'm pretty confident that one of my dogs would like it, too; he'd hang three-quarters of the way out of a window of a moving car, if we'd let him.)

The more interesting phenomenon is this: people wring their hands a lot more about the fate of a canine than they do about worse fates for human beings.

 

[jnelso99]

A few democrats, assorted leftists, and those prone to fake indignation and outrage (but I repeat myself) have been "concerned" with this story for a while now...

You say this like republicans aren't prone to fake indignation and outrage.

OMG! Obama put his feet on the desk!
OMG! Obama filled out an NCAA basketball tournament bracket!
OMG! Obama likes arugula!

As for the OP, I don't think this is all that big of an issue. There are plenty of other examples showing how out-of-touch with normal Americans Romney is.

 

[tyr_13]

You say this like republicans aren't prone to fake indignation and outrage.
OMG! Obama put his feet on the desk!
OMG! Obama filled out an NCAA basketball tournament bracket!
OMG! Obama likes arugula!

As for the OP, I don't think this is all that big of an issue. There are plenty of other examples showing how out-of-touch with normal Americans Romney is.

Tu quoque. Also, not true. He was saying it was 'leftists and others' this time because they are politically opposed to Romney.

 

[applecorped]

A few democrats, assorted leftists, and those prone to fake indignation and outrage (but I repeat myself) have been "concerned" with this story for a while now...

Maybe if they keep flogging it for another 6.5 months someone out there might actually care enough to reconsider their vote. Doubtful but I guess it's worth a shot.

I thought of the scene in National Lampoon's Vacation after the dog was dragged to death:

Motorcycle Cop: [sternly] Do you know what the penalty is, in this state, for cruelty to animals?
Clark: No, officer, I don't.
Motorcycle Cop: [hesitatingly] Well, it's probably pretty stiff!

 

[Unabogie]

I cannot believe that anybody is trying to make anything out of the Seamus story. Dogs do not freak out from riding along on the top of a roof inside a pet carrier; they quite commonly ride in the back of pickup trucks and don't cower down; rather they stick their head out the side. Indeed, if you've ever had a dog inside a car you'll know that it always insists on the window seat with the window down. Which is probably why it was on the roof; with five boys and Mitt and Ann in the car there was nowhere else.

The dog quite obviously got diarrhea from something he ate, not from being scared.

Obviously. It's a known fact that the dog got sick from eating something unknown, and not the trauma of being strapped to the roof of a moving car on a highway for 12 hours.

By the way, don't try this at home. If a cop sees you, you'll very likely be cited for animal cruelty. Has anyone ever asked Romney why he didn't put the luggage on the roof and the dog in the car?