Romney's dog "enjoys fresh air", so yeah, let's put him on the roof

I've been remiss in not returning to the story of Mitt Romney and his dog. You will recall that the Boston Globe reported that on a family trip from Boston to Ontario, Romney and his brood of five mini-Mitts were short on space in their stationwagon. You could call their solution creative. Putting the family Irish Setter, Seamus, into a dog crate Romney then strapped said crate on top of the car roof. I'll repeat that: Romney thought is sensible to strap his dog to his car roof. For a 12 hour drive.

Remarkable as this is, it's not the full story. At one point during the trip an evidently distresses Seamus suffered an attack of diarrhoea. When this was brought to Romney's attention he stopped at a gas station and, using a hose, washed down his car and dog before putting Seamus back into his box and returning him to the roof.

Astonishingly this was hailed, according to the Globe, as an example of Romney's emotion-free crisis management.

That's one way of putting it.

I'd thought the moral of this story - don't strap your dog to your car roof - was pretty simple. But apparently not. A majority of commenters here and, rather more vociferously and in greater numbers, at Assymetrical Information, ask, heck, what's the big deal? People, you perplex me.

As one of my commenters puts it:

I love this story. A true American dad on vacation. Remember - this was 1983. My baby sisters were not even in car seats back then, I rode in the back of the station wagon on top of the suitcases, there were no seat belt laws. There weren't even nice kennels to leave the dog. I like him more now, knowing his no-nonsense approach to life. We need a person of decision and strength for president, not some wenie who's going to ask the polls if a decision is right. I don't know who to vote for, but this ancient piece of muck actually makes me MORE likely to vote for Romney.

I had not realised this needed to be spelt out. At best this episode reveals a cluelessness about the appropriate way to transport - and hence treat - your dog. That's the most generous interpretation available of the casual disregard, to say nothing of the cruelty, with which Romney treated his dog.

Romney didn't have to put Seamus on the roof. He chose to do so. Given the choice between putting luggage or the family pet on the roof, Romney chose the pet. This is simply not the decision of a normal, well-adjusted person, let alone anyone who cares about their pet. I defy you to find a significant number of (terrible) pet owners who would agree with Romney's decision. Does it need to be pointed out that Romney endangered his dog's afety, risking the crate being torn off the roof by the wind, when he could have, crate ad all, put the dog in the trunk. Sure there are risks involved with that too, but none so great as those involved in putting Seamus on the roof.  The fact it was 1983 doesn't make the slightest bit of difference.

Furthermore, by putting his dog on the roof Romney ensured that he had no way of knowing whether his dog was distressed (highly likely given Iris Setters' well-merited reputation for being loopy to the tonsils) or not. In other words he failed in his duty of care. Even if his dog became agitated inside the car, one of Mitt's children would have been on hand to calm Seamus's nerves as best he could.

Some people ask if Romney's decision to put his dog on the roof was any different to transporting Seamus in an airplane hold or in the back of a pick-up truck. This is piffle. To begin with, a pet owner traveling from Chicago to Paris, say, has few options available to him. Secondly, airlines have dedicated procedures for transporting pets with the minimum of fuss and maximum level of comfort. This includes proper provision of food and water. As for the pick-up truck: there is a difference between a 12 hour journey along the interstate a short trip across one's ranch or in to town to pick up groceries.

I cannot imagine any dog owner I've ever known acting in this way (I come from a pro-dog family) and each dog owner I've mentioned this story to these past few days has been horrified by Romney's behaviour.

Typically, the candidate passes the blame on to the (conveniently deceased) dog:

He scrambled up there every time we went on trips," Romney said at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday. "He got it all by himself and enjoyed it."

Romney also tried to suggest that any criticism the work of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the lunatic fringe. Not so, no matter how convenient that would be for Romney:

"You know, PETA has not been my fan over the years," Romney said. "PETA has been after me for having a rodeo at the Olympics and were very, very upset about that. PETA was after me when I went quail hunting in Georgia. And PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air."

Frankly, if I were Romney I'd be careful about bringing up his hunting history again. But that's just me. As for the "my dog likes fresh air" line, this seems contradicted by Ann Romney's insistence that the rooftop kennel was "enclosed...not in the open air".

As I said before, however, all of this seems like a pretty good non-trivial character indicator to me. I'm surprised others don't see that. Romney better hope this story disappears. Or perhaps he's now preparing to pretend to have never been pro-dog, shifting his loyalties to the pro-cat position?

Comments

[Internet Ronin]

About 100,000 dogs per year die because they are not tethered while traveling in the back of a pick-up. (California law now requires tethering.) When I asked about Romney at the veterinarian's office on Saturday, they were quite critical because, as one put it, "I'm the one who has to try to save animals that fall out of cars, are thrown out of cars in accidents, or suffer injuries from flying road debris.I've had to put down too many fine animals because of stupidity like this."

[ben]

The vile treatment of his dog is only part of it the way in which he seems determined to turn a holiday trip for a young family into a grim death-march. The boisterousness of five boys and a dog going on vacation must become a serious of miserable lessons in lectures, cold hoses, values, and not having any fun. For Moroni.

[ben]

goddam, I know the difference between "series" and "serious" and I demand an edit button.

[Rusty]

Let Mitt know how you feel at:
http://www.dogsagainstromney.blogspot.com/

[Metropolis]

In 1983 the Volvo station wagon was the car of choice for yuppie families due to its vaunted Swedish design and safety record. Minivans existed and seat belts were, in fact, mandatory, and alas, kennels did exist. Furthermore, there were neighbors, family members, dog sitters who could have taken care of poor Seamus.

Was this vaction during the heat of summer? All the more egregious. And finally, Romney was/is a wealthy man from a wealthy family. Surely he had enough money to board Seamus or pay some teenager to look after his dog.

This speaks to his very poor judgment added to the fact that he can not now even acknowledge his error.

[Anonymous]

A video dramatization:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSNss79K41k