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Mitt Romney dog incident

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Seamus
SpeciesCanis lupus familiaris
BreedIrish setter
SexMale
Nation fromUnited States
OccupationPet
Known for1983 incident (see text)
OwnerMitt and Ann Romney; later, Jane Romney

Seamus (/ˈʃeɪməs/ SHAY-muss) was a pet dog owned by Mitt Romney and his family. Seamus, an Irish setter, was a subject of media attention for Mitt Romney in both the 2008 presidential election and the 2012 presidential election because of a 1983 family vacation where Romney transported Seamus on the roof of an automobile for 12 hours.

Incident

In June 1983, Romney and his family were preparing for their annual vacation from their Belmont, Massachusetts home to a family cottage in Beach O'Pines, Ontario. Seamus was enclosed in a carrier that Romney had equipped with a windshield and strapped on the roof of the family's Chevrolet Caprice station wagon. Sometime during the 650-mile trip from Massachusetts to Ontario, the dog became afflicted with diarrhea, causing excrement to flow down the windows of the car. Romney stopped at a gas station to wash Seamus, the carrier and the car, then put Seamus back in his carrier, and continued the 12-hour trip to the family's vacation home.

Legal and scientific commentary

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals declined to comment on the legality of Romney's actions, but noted that it is illegal in Massachusetts to transport a dog "in a way that endangers it." Ingrid Newkirk, the president of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) labeled the incident as animal cruelty and torture. According to Russell Cummings, a professor of aerospace engineering at California Polytechnic State University, Seamus could have had around three pounds (ten pounds per square foot) of air pressure pressing against his head during the trip. Cummings' wife, a veterinarian, said that she was worried that the air flow could cause fatigue and dehydration of the eyes.

During a 2012 interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News, Romney stated that Seamus enjoyed being in the dog carrier, an "air-tight kennel," and that he was not aware of any violations of Massachusetts law. Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife, said that the news media had exaggerated the severity of the incident, and compared traveling in the roof-top dog carrier to riding a motorcycle or riding in the bed of a pickup truck.

Political commentary

During the 2012 U.S. Republican presidential primaries, candidate Newt Gingrich aired an anti-Romney attack ad that featured the story. During an appearance on the ABC show This Week, Republican candidate Rick Santorum stated, "As far as Seamus the dog ... the issues of character are important in this election. We need to look at all those issues and make a determination as to whether that’s the kind of person you want to be president of the United States.” In order to contrast Barack Obama with Mitt Romney, David Axelrod, Obama's chief political consultant, tweeted a picture of Obama and his dog, Bo, in the presidential limousine, with the caption "How loving owners transport their dogs".

Mark Halperin, the senior political analyst for Time magazine and MSNBC, opined that "for a lot of voters" the incident was "a serious issue". Scott Crider, founder of the Dogs Against Romney website, said that the incident had "struck a chord" because people "look at their own pet and say, ‘This is a member of my family. How can you even think about putting it on top of a car?’" Conversely, journalist Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post defended Mitt Romney's treatment of Seamus, stating, "Doesn’t the fact that Romney chose to bring the dog on the family vacation, rather than dump him in a kennel back home, suggest that he’s a dog lover, not a hater?" Neil Swidey, the Boston Globe journalist who wrote the initial article about Romney's 1983 road trip, stated, " always struck me as a valuable window into how Romney operates. In everything the guy does, he functions on logic, not emotion."

According to Snopes, the incident has been "pointed to as an example of Romney's emotion-free crisis management style. Others viewed it differently, regarding the mode of canine transport the dog was subjected to as unnecessarily callous and cruel." A Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey found that 74% of Democrats, 66% of Independents, and 63% of Republicans consider it inhumane to put a family dog in a kennel on the roof of a car. The poll also found that 35% of voters would be less likely to vote for Romney because of the Seamus incident, whereas 55% of voters said that it would not affect how they vote.

During an April 2012 interview with ABC News, Diane Sawyer asked Mitt Romney about the Seamus story and if he would ever do it again. Romney replied, "Certainly not with the attention it's received," after which Sawyer stated, "You said it was the most wounding thing in the campaign so far," though it is ambiguous as to whether Romney agreed with this statement. During the same interview, Ann Romney stated that Seamus got diarrhea from eating turkey off the table before the trip, and that the dog loved the crate. At the 2012 White House Correspondents' Dinner, a video about the Seamus incident was shown during during President Obama's speech. Barack Obama poked fun at the comments that he once ate dog meat when he was a child and then joked, "We have all agreed that families are off-limits. Dogs are apparently fair game."

Supplementary information

Seamus had the nickname 'Mr. Personality' because he was a social dog. A few years after his ride to Canada, Seamus was given to Mitt Romney's sister, Jane Romney of California, who said, "He kept ending up at the pound. They were worried about him getting hit crossing the street. We had more space, so he could roam more freely." The dog has since died. As of March 2012, New York Times columnist Gail Collins had mentioned the car trip more than 50 times.

References

  1. Jennifer Parker (June 28, 2007). "Romney strapped dog to car roof". ABC News.
  2. Jeanne Moos (January 13, 2012). "Mitt Romney 'dog-on-the-roof' story appears in Newt Gingrich ad". KSDK News (St. Louis).
  3. Neil Swidey & Stephanie Ebbert (June 27, 2007). "Journeys of a shared life". Boston Globe.
  4. ^ Barbara & David Mikkelson (January 21, 2008). "Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney transported a dog atop his car". Snopes.
  5. Ana Marie Cox (June 27, 2007). "Romney's cruel canine vacation". Time Magazine.
  6. Blair Soden (June 29, 2007). "Dog on roof? What was it like for Romney's pooch?". ABC News.
  7. Sue Kottwitz (January 8, 2012). "Dog politics: Mitt Romney, Seamus & the now infamous vacation". Zimbio.
  8. Ann Romney (June 30, 2007). "From Ann Romney". Mitt Romney - Road to the White House.
  9. James Oliphant (January 12, 2012). "New anti-Romney ad by Gingrich goes to the dog". Los Angeles Times.
  10. Kasie Hunt (January 14, 2012). "Attacks on Romney getting personal". Associated Press.
  11. Amy Bingham (March 19, 2012). "Santorum team doggedly resurrects Romney's Seamus tale". ABC News.
  12. Justin Sink (January 30, 2012). "Axelrod tweaks Romney over strapping dog to car roof". The Hill. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. Mark Halperin (January 15, 2012). "Newt: Seamus story paints a 'picture' of Mitt". Time Magazine.
  14. Jerry Kronenberg (January 17, 2012). "Canine support goes to the dogs". Boston Herald.
  15. Ruth Marcus (March 15, 2012). "Doggone it, stop hounding Romney". Washington Post.
  16. Neil Swidey (January 8, 2012). "What our fascination with Mitt Romney's dog Seamus says about our culture". Boston Globe.
  17. Tom Jensen (March 20, 2012). "Polling on Romney's 'dog problem'". Public Policy Polling.
  18. Russell Goldman & Emily Friedman (April 16, 2012). "Dog Seamus 'loved' trips atop family car, Says Ann Romney". ABC News.
  19. Morgan Little (April 17, 2012). "Mitt, Ann Romney defend putting dog on car roof; fallout continues". Los Angeles Times.
  20. Paige Lavender (April 29, 2012). "Obama jokes about Seamus Romney, dog 'socialism' at White House Correspondents' Dinner". Huffington Post.
  21. Scott Helman (July 10, 2007). "Introducing Seamus Romney, 'Mr. Personality'". Boston Globe.
  22. Kristina Chew (January 12, 2012). "The curious incident of Mitt's dog on the roof of his car". Care2.
  23. Philip Rucker (March 14, 2012). "Mitt Romney's dog-on-the-car-roof story still proves to be his critics' best friend". Washington Post.

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