Seamus the
Irish Setter isn’t the only dog Mitt Romney failed to treat nicely. While he
was Governor of Massachusetts, Romney was approached twice by animal welfare
activists seeking (begging for) his help in banning dog racing in the
state. Romney was made aware that greyhounds
used for racing were being kept in cages so small they could barely turn
around, and that a dog was being severely injured while racing every 3 – 4 days.
Christine
Dorchak, the head of an organization that seeks to ban dog racing worldwide, told
the Daily Beast that she could find “no evidence” Romney ever took a stand
for the dogs. She noted that the dog-racing industry in Massachusetts was “the
number three contributor to state legislators” at the time.
Because of
Romney’s indifference to the plight of the greyhounds, dog-racing - and cruelty - continued for
several years in Massachusetts under his administration. It was ultimately
banned by popular vote in 2008, after Romney left office.
Philip
Singer, a top communications staffer for Sen. Hillary Clinton in
2008, said voters concerned with animal welfare seem poised to become a “new
voting bloc” in this election and that Romney’s silence on the hotly-contested
greyhound racing issue could be “the kind of story that breaks through with
people who don’t always follow minute-to-minute developments, but who are
casually interested and vote.”
“Considering that he put his dog on the roof of his car, it’s just not surprising that he wasn’t lined up with animal-rights activists,” Singer said.
Hat tip: TheDaily Beast
.
2 comments:
Romney has a real problem. He committed animal cruelty, and because of this is one the National Animal Cruelty Registry. The registry was founded in 1986, and contains about 20,000 incidents of animal cruelty from across the country. Many animal shelters and pet stores will not sell to a person whose name is in the registry.
http://www.inhumane.org/data/MRomney.htm
I am totally against officials who mistreat animals.
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