West Palm Beach, Florida - Amid a crowd of nearly 500 people at the Palm Beach Convention Center this afternoon, Mitt Romney chants resonated through the building. It was Romney's first appearance in Florida since his New Hampshire and Iowa victories, but how many dog lovers are singing Mitt's name?
In case you're a dog lover and one of the 39 percent of Americans who have at least one dog in their household, you may not be familiar with the 1983 story where Romney crammed his five children, wife and luggage into the family station wagon for a 12-hour drive to the family cottage at Beach O'Pines from Boston to Ontario. The family dog, an Irish Setter named Seamus was placed in a dog carrier and fastened to the station wagon's roof rack. All was not lost however, because Romney stated he made a windshield "to make the ride more comfortable for the dog."
Now brace yourself for the ugly part of the story when one of Romney's sons yells out the word "gross" as he sees a brown watery discharge running down the back window. Poor Seamus' bowels let loose from the extreme distress of being on top of the car roof.
So what did our potential presidential candidate do? Romney pulled into a service station, hosed down Seamus, the cage and the car, and then put Seamus back on top of the car in his crate and continued on with the journey to Ontario.
When the story hit the media in 2007 posted by Boston Globe journalist Neil Swidey, Romney defended his actions stating he loved his dog and his dog preferred fresh air. PETA president, Ingrid Newkirk accused him of animal cruelty and was quoted in Time Magazine as calling Romney's action unacceptable "torture" claiming the wind, weather, isolation and the stress were clear indications of the dog being in extreme distress and pain.
Newkirk went on to criticize Romney's support of a Salt Lake City rodeo and the cruel sport of quail hunting.
So will a presidential election be determined by the former governor of Massachusetts possible act of animal cruelty? Of course now with such intense scrutiny on animal welfare and the overwhelming popularity of 78 million families with at least one dog in the United States, that kind of animal treatment today would have done far more than just raise eyebrows, debate or collect media attention. In many states animal cruelty convictions are now classified as felonies.
What seems to pervade public opinion however is the lack of emotion Romney showed towards his dog. Most of us would have brought Seamus into the car to be with the family for the rest of the trip - surely we wouldn't have piled him back up in the luggage rack after the total release of his bowels. Perhaps the "emotion free" response to an animal suffering makes people wonder how his decisions will affect our nation.
Way back then Romney was only 36-years-old and maybe he has thought more carefully about the situation since then, but tonight he will be at a fundraiser at the home of Miami Dolphins' team owner Stephen Ross raising campaign funds and kissing up to local supporters. I doubt any dogs were invited. You can be sure Newt Gingrich isn't going to let Romney forget about it. How about you?
For those of you who wondered whatever happened to Seamus, he retired with Romney's sister Jane in California for the rest of his life.
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