Politics & Government

Bassett Owner Sides With 'Dogs Against Romney' Movement

Car tops are meant for toting luggage and sleeping bags, not for transporting the family pet, the 'Dogs Against Romney' movement maintains.

Howard and Hillary don't have a clue who Mitt Romney is, and they aren't registered voters, either.

They're not even human beings.

Yet, the two Basett Hounds and thousands of canines throughout the country have been leashed into the 2012 presidential race for the White House in quite an unsuspecting way.

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The on-line movement, Dogs Against Romney is a growing coalition of pet-lovers who are appalled by the Romney family's recounting of their 1983 vacation to Canada.

Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, planned to stop once for gasoline during the trip, according to the Dogs Against Romney website.

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The story, as reported by the Boston Globe in 2007, said Mitt put their Irish Setter, Seamus, into a crate and strapped crate - and dog - to the top of the car.

They then proceeded on a 12-hour drive to Canada.

However, the Romneys were forced to stop when Seamus suffered a bad case of diarrhea that began streaming down the car windows, the newspaper reported. Mitt Romney pulled over to hose off the car - and the dog. After the cleaning, the family hit the road again, the "Dogs Against Romney" website states.

"I thought what he did to his dog was mean," said Crystal Lake resident Cindi Carlson, proud owner of Howard and Hillary. 

Carlson was so disgusted by the story, she went on-line and ordered the sign now displayed in her front lawn, which is located in the older section of Crystal Lake. 

"Dogs Against Romney" signs, bumper stickers and buttons are popping up all over the country. The "Dogs Against Romney," organization, founded in 2007, advertises many of those campaign materials. Proof of the group's growing support: the "Dogs Against Romney" Facebook page has 63,357 "likes."

That's a lot of "likes" for a story many people don't like.

"I can't believe someone would treat their dog like that," Carlson said. 

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