Mitt Romney dog incident

In June 1983, the Romney family left their Belmont, Massachusetts home on their way to Romney's parents' cottage in Beach O' Pines, Ontario for an annual vacation along the shore of Lake Huron. Their dog, Seamus, rode in a carrier on the roof of the family's Chevrolet Caprice station wagon for the 12-hour trip. Romney had built a windshield for the carrier to make the ride more comfortable for the dog. During the {{convert|650|mi|km|adj=on}} trip, Seamus got diarrhea. The Romneys were first alerted to the Irish Setter’s bowel issues when son Tagg Romney noticed brown liquid pouring down the back window, followed immediately by him and his younger brothers yelling in disgust. Romney stopped at a gas station to wash the dog, the carrier, and the car. With Seamus back in the carrier, the family continued on their way.{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/romney/dog.asp|title=Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney transported a dog atop his car|website=Snopes.com|first1=Barbara|last1=Mikkelson|first2=David|last2=Mikkelson|date=January 21, 2008|access-date=September 20, 2012}}

Seamus ({{IPAc-en|'|ʃ|eɪ|m|ə|s}} {{respell|SHAY|məs}}), an Irish Setter, was an active, outgoing dog, and was the Romney family's first pet dog.{{cite web|url=http://mittromneyroadtothewhitehouse.blogspot.com/2007/06/from-ann-romney.html|title=From Ann Romney|publisher=Mitt Romney – Road to the White House|first1=Ann|last1=Romney|author-link=Ann Romney|date=June 30, 2007|access-date=September 20, 2012}} It is generally reported that,{{By whom|date=January 2022}} a few years after his ride to Canada, Seamus was given to Mitt Romney's sister, Jane Romney Robinson 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/07/introducing_sea.html|title= Introducing Seamus Romney, 'Mr. Personality'|newspaper=The Boston Globe|first1=Neil|last1=Swidey|date=July 10, 2007|access-date=September 20, 2012}} The dog's date of death is unknown, but Robinson stated that Seamus lived to a "ripe old age" on her farm in California.{{cite news|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/tale-of-pooch-on-car-roof-dogs-romney-138629569.html?device=mobile|title=Tale of pooch on car roof dogs Romney|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|first1=Julie|last1=Jacobson|date=February 3, 2012|access-date=September 20, 2012}}

When interviewed by 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;{{cite web|url=http://www.zimbio.com/Mitt+Romney/articles/j6vvA1148mS/Dog+Politics+Mitt+Romney+Seamus+now+infamous| title=Dog politics: Mitt Romney, Seamus & the now infamous vacation|newspaper=Zimbio|first1=Sue|last1=Kottwitz|date=January 8, 2012|access-date=September 20, 2012}} the state's animal cruelty laws prohibit anyone from carrying an animal "in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhumane manner."{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1638065,00.html|title=Dogs Against Romney.|magazine=Time|date=June 27, 2007}} In earlier accounts, Romney described a makeshift "windshield".{{Cite web |title=Dog on Roof? What Was It Like for Romney's Pooch? |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Politics/story?id=3329017&page=1 |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=ABC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Rucker |first=Philip |date=2012-03-14 |title=Mitt Romney's dog-on-the-car-roof story still proves to be his critics' best friend |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-dog-on-the-car-roof-story-still-proves-to-be-his-critics-best-friend/2012/03/14/gIQAp2LxCS_story.html |access-date=2022-11-11 |issn=0190-8286}}

Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife, has stated that the news media 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.

During an April 2012 interview with ABC News, Diane Sawyer asked the Romneys about Seamus and the road trip, and if he would ever do it again. Romney offered, "He loves it, it's his favorite." During the same interview, Ann Romney attributed Seamus' troubles to eating turkey off the table.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/dog-seamus-loved-trips-atop-family-car-says-ann-romney/|title=Dog Seamus 'loved' trips atop family car, Says Ann Romney|publisher=ABC News|first1=Russell|last1=Goldman|first2=Emily|last2=Friedman|date=April 16, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-apr-17-la-pn-mitt-romneys-treatment-of-dog-seamus-continues-to-hound-campaign-20120417-story.html|title=Mitt, Ann Romney defend putting dog on car roof; fallout continues|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first1=Morgan|last1=Little|date=April 17, 2012|access-date=September 20, 2012}} Romney stated that he loved his dog.*{{cite web|url=http://whoiapolitics.blogspot.com/2007/06/romney-loves-his-dog.html|title=Romney Loves His Dog|publisher=WHO-DT|first1=Dave|last1=Price|date=June 30, 2007|type=video|access-date=September 20, 2012}}

In 2007, Ingrid Newkirk, president of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), criticized Romney for the incident.{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1638065,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628162116/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1638065,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 2007|title=Romney's cruel canine vacation|work=TIME Magazine|first1=Ana Marie|last1=Cox|author-link=Ana Marie Cox|date=June 27, 2007}} Responding to PETA, Romney said, "my dog likes fresh air".{{cite web|first1=David|last1=Folkenflik|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/12/20/144001605/why-mitt-romneys-dog-is-getting-a-lot-of-press|title=Why Mitt Romney's Dog Is Getting A Lot Of Press|publisher=NPR|date=December 20, 2011|access-date=September 21, 2012}}

Newkirk has elaborated (speaking for herself rather than for PETA) that the Seamus incident irritates her because "there are far more serious issues to talk about" regarding the mistreatment of animals.

In 2012, after a Dogs Against Romney protest outside the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show,{{Cite web |title=Romney protest held outside Westminster dog show |url=https://apnews.com/article/e6765ba4131145f89dc1b64c15533b9c |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=AP NEWS |date=February 14, 2012 |language=en}} MacArthur Animal Hospital's Dr. Rawstrom was contacted by Slate about the plausibility of the Romneys' claim Seamus just had to poop in his crate. "They (dogs) prefer clean environments; that’s why one principle of crate training is to give them a space large enough to move around in but small enough that they don’t want to defecate inside.” She added Seamus' loose stool was likely indicative of "high levels of stress."{{Cite web |last=Waldman |first=Katy |date=2012-02-16 |title=Did the Romney Family Dog Flee to Canada in Fear? |url=https://slate.com/culture/2012/02/romney-s-dog-seamus-did-he-run-away-to-canada.html |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=Slate |language=en}}

During the 2012 U.S. Republican presidential primaries, candidate Newt Gingrich aired an anti-Romney attack ad that featured the story.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/seamus-returns-gingrich-ad-revives-romneys-dog-debacle/|date=January 11, 2012|title=Seamus Returns – Gingrich Ad Revives Romney's Dog Debacle|format=video/text|publisher=ABC News|access-date=September 21, 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-gingrich-goes-to-the-dog-20120112,0,4318518.story?track=rss|title=New anti-Romney ad by Gingrich goes to the dog|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|author-link=James Oliphant|first1=James|last1=Oliphant|date=January 12, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gYTVINMf3aSuPPVgoxokULpMDEIg?docId=b73eedb26c5b4c31870cc6919d2c2e7c|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116221904/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gYTVINMf3aSuPPVgoxokULpMDEIg?docId=b73eedb26c5b4c31870cc6919d2c2e7c|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 16, 2012|title=Attacks on Romney getting personal|publisher=Associated Press|first1=Kasie|last1=Hunt|date=January 14, 2012}} While appearing 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 [Romney] you want to be president of the United States."{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/santorum-team-doggedly-resurrects-romneys-seamus-tale/|title=Santorum team doggedly resurrects Romney's Seamus tale|publisher=ABC News|first1=Amy|last1=Bingham|date=March 19, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012}} Santorum's view was at odds with that of Bill Wasik, senior editor of Wired Magazine: "Yet looking back on the Seamus Romney story today, what is most striking is its forgettability, how indistinguishable it seems in retrospect from the idiots' parade of meaningless stories that came to define the [2008] campaign."{{cite book|first1=Bill|last1=Wasik|author-link=Bill Wasik|title=And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture|page=145|publisher=Penguin Publishing|year=2009}}

Journalists Mike Allen and Evan Thomas assert that Romney did nothing unusual: "Overlooked in the clucking over the incident is the fact that the dog was in a crate, probably little different from the dog kennels used to transport animals in the cold-storage compartments of airplanes. Romney had erected a barrier to shield the family pet from the wind. Romney, the family man, heading to the lake, didn't seem heartless at the time. But politics is a heartless business."{{cite book|first1=Mike|last1=Allen|first2=Evan|last2=Thomas|title=Inside the Circus|publisher=Random House|year=2012}}

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?"{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/defending-mitt-romneys-road-trip-with-a-dog-on-the-roof/2012/03/15/gIQAMUhKES_story.html|title=Doggone it, stop hounding Romney|newspaper=Washington Post|first1=Ruth|last1=Marcus|date=March 15, 2012}} Neil Swidey, The Boston Globe journalist who wrote the initial article about Romney's 1983 road trip, stated, "[Seamus] always struck me as a valuable window into how Romney operates. In everything the guy does, he functions on logic, not emotion."{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2012/01/08/what_our_fascination_with_mitt_romneys_dog_seamus_says_about_our_culture/|title=What our fascination with Mitt Romney's dog Seamus says about our culture|newspaper=The Boston Globe|first1=Neil|last1=Swidey|date=January 8, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709213649/http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-08/news/30605151_1_romney-family-mitt-romney-dog|archive-date=July 9, 2012|url-status=live}}

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 did not mention the windshield. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/03/polling-on-romneys-dog-problem.html|title=Polling on Romney's 'dog problem'|publisher=Public Policy Polling|first1=Tom|last1=Jensen|date=March 20, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012}} As of September 2012, New York Times columnist Gail Collins had mentioned the Romneys' car trip more than 70 times.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/mitt-romneys-dog-on-the-car-roof-story-still-proves-to-be-his-critics-best-friend/2012/03/14/gIQAp2LxCS_story.html|title=Mitt Romney's dog-on-the-car-roof story still proves to be his critics' best friend|newspaper=Washington Post|first1=Philip|last1=Rucker|date=March 14, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://aldridge.tumblr.com/post/17656604102/collins-romney-dog|title=Complete list of every time Gail Collins has mentioned the Seamus incident|publisher=String & Sealing Wax|first1=Matthew|last1=Aldrich|date=May 13, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012}}{{cite web|first1=Angie|last1=Drobnic Holan|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/sep/13/gail-collins/mitt-romney-and-dog-car-roof-one-columnists-obsess/|title=Mitt Romney and the dog on the car roof: one columnist's obsession|work=Tampa Bay Times|publisher=PolitiFact.com|date=September 13, 2011|access-date=September 21, 2012}}

Responding to Democrats who emphasized the Seamus story, conservative bloggers such as Jim Treacher drew a comparison between the Seamus incident when Romney was a 36-year-old man, and Barack Obama sampling dog meat as a child in Indonesia, where it is a local delicacy, as mentioned in Obama's autobiography.{{cite web|first1=Grace|last1=Wyler|url=http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-04-18/politics/31355959_1_dog-meat-dog-wars-president-obama|title=Conservatives Fight Back: Barack Obama Ate a Dog|website=Business Insider|date=April 18, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127005811/http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-04-18/politics/31355959_1_dog-meat-dog-wars-president-obama|archive-date=January 27, 2013|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|first1=Patricia|last1=Zengerle|url=http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/2012/04/18/so-neither-party-gets-the-dog-vote/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421014837/http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/2012/04/18/so-neither-party-gets-the-dog-vote/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 21, 2012|title=So neither party gets the dog vote?|work=Reuters|date=April 18, 2012|access-date=September 21, 2012}} While an Obama spokesman called it an attack on a small child, Obama himself has displayed a sense of humor about it.The White House Correspondents' Dinner saw Obama saying that Sarah Palin's stint guest hosting The Today Show reminded him of an old query: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A pit bull is delicious." {{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/obama-ate-dog-seamus-romney_n_1464749.html|title=Obama Ate Dog, and He'd Do It Again to Remind You of Seamus Romney|type=Video|first1=Arthur|last1=Delaney|first2=Hunter|last2=Stuart|date=April 30, 2012|newspaper=Huffington Post|access-date=September 20, 2012}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0420/Mitt-Romney-vs.-Barack-Obama-Who-gets-the-dog-owners-vote/(page)/2|title=Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama: Who gets the dog owners vote?|first1=Jocelyn|last1=Noveck|newspaper=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=September 20, 2012|date=April 20, 2012}}

At the 2012 White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Obama poked fun at Romney releasing an "advertisement" depicting Romney and Seamus.{{cite video | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3QRmc7fKw | title=Presidents Obama pokes fun at Mitt Romney's dog | publisher=CNN | date=April 28, 2012}}

Devo released the single Don't Roof Rack Me Bro (Seamus Unleashed), dedicated to Seamus.{{Cite web|date=2017-06-24|title=Devo Backs Seamus: 'Don't Roof Rack Me, Bro!' - ABC News|website=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/devo-backs-seamus-dont-roof-rack-me-bro/|access-date=2021-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624073112/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/devo-backs-seamus-dont-roof-rack-me-bro/|archive-date=June 24, 2017}}

• List of individual dogs

{{Portal|1980s}}

{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite news |title=Romney on his dog Seamus |url=https://online.wsj.com/video/038AA394-5B31-4C79-A012-45983C9CB38B.html|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=December 21, 2011|type=video}}
• {{cite web |first1=Diane|last1=Sawyer|author-link=Diane Sawyer|date=April 16, 2012 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-diane-sawyer-sits-mitt-ann-romney/story?id=16150624 |title=Transcript: Mitt and Ann Romney's interview with Diane Sawyer (page 8)|publisher=ABC News}}

{{Mitt Romney}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romney dog incident}}

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Category:Animal cruelty incidents

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Dog incident

Category:Political controversies in the United States

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