Late Night: What Really Happened to Seamus Romney?
Posted: April 17, 2012 Filed under: U.S. Politics | Tags: animal cruelty, Ann Romney, crate-gate, Diane Sawyer, lies, Mitt Romney, Seamus Romney 24 Comments
Seamus Romney and Friends
This morning I watched part of Diane Sawyer’s interview with Ann and Mitt Romney. Sawyer had asked viewers what questions they’d like to ask the Romneys, and the subject most asked about was why they had taken a 12-hour road trip with their Irish Setter Seamus in a “crate” (Ann’s word) on the roof of their station wagon. (Here’s a post I wrote about this awful episode last year.)
“Honestly, would you do it again?” Sawyer asked. Both Romneys laughed heartily in their condescending, entitled way. “Certainly not with the attention it’s received,” Mitt replied, still laughing.
Mitt Romney told Sawyer that the Seamus attacks were the most wounding of the campaign “so far,” but Anne Romney insisted the dog loved traveling that way and looked forward to trips.
“The dog loved it,” Ann Romney said. “He would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for two weeks.”
Adding to the left’s narrative that Romney had little compassion for the animal is a detail from the 1983 trip that Ann Romney confirmed to Sawyer. The dog became sick, defecating all over itself and the windshield of the car, leading Romney to hose them both off before they continued on the drive to Canada.
“Once, he — we traveled all the time — and he ate the turkey on the counter. I mean, he had the runs,” Ann Romney said, laughing as she explained how the dog got diarrhea.
Ha ha ha ha. So funny. Ann said that for Seamus it was like riding a motorcycle or a roller coaster. He enjoyed it, both Romney have said. Now who here thinks it would be fun to ride a roller coaster for 12 hours straight? As reminder, here’s an expert opinion about what it was really like for Seamus that I linked to in my post a year ago.
And when the contents of Seamus’ bowels streamed down the car windows, Mitt pulled into a gas station, hosed down the dog, the crate, and the car; put Seamus back in the crate (still soaking wet, presumably), and drove blithely onward to Ontario and his family’s ritzy summer retreat.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got; and I ended up surfing around for hours searching for more information. I learned that Mitt’s sister, Jane claimed to have cared for Seamus for a time after the trip to Canada in 1983. Jane told The Boston Globe that Seamus loved to wander around town:
[He] was such a social dog that he often left Mitt Romney’s Belmont home to visit his “dog friends” around town. “He kept ending up at the pound,” she says. “They were worried about him getting hit crossing the street.” So a few years after Seamus’s ride to Canada, Mitt sent Seamus to live for a time with Jane and her family in California. “We had more space, so he could roam more freely,” she says.
I had to wonder if Seamus was actually trying to escape his overbearing master, the Mittster. Then finally, I came across an article from this past January at Politiker that raised the possibility that Seamus never returned from the 1983 trip to Canada.
Mitt Romney may not have told the whole truth about the scandalous tale of his Irish Setter, Seamus, being strapped to the roof of his car during a 12-hour family road trip to Canada. According to a trusted Politicker tipster, two of Mr. Romney’s sons had an off-record conversation with reporters where they revealed the dog ran away when they reached their destination on that infamous journey in 1983.
Mr. Romney’s wife, Ann, has previously said Seamus survived the trip and went on to live to a “ripe old age.” As of this writing, Mr. Romney’s campaign has not responded to multiple requests for comment on this story.
Aha! The plot thickens. And then, what do you know? Just today, the Politicker landed another scoop. Jane Romney’s ex-husband, Bruce H. Robinson, spilled the beans on his former wife and brother-in-law. It seems that the couple divorced in 1980–three years before the fateful trip–and Seamus stayed with them before they broke up.
Mr. Robinson, a doctor and nephew of the late president of the Mormon Church Gordon Hinckley, married
Jane Romney in 1958. In 1968, he flew to France to care for Mr. Romney after the future White House hopeful was nearly killed in a car crash while working as a Mormon missionary. Mr. Robinson told us he and Jane Romney did indeed take Seamus to live with them in California, but that it was before 1980 (the vacation in question happened in 1983), and they gave the dog back prior to the notorious rooftop road trip.
Mr. Robinson said Mitt and Ann Romney gave Seamus away because they “couldn’t handle” the dog, which Mr. Robinson described as “a wanderer” who had a propensity for running away.
“They had a couple of their little boys at that point,” Mr. Robinson said. “So they gave him to us.”
He thinks this was in the late 1970s–it had to be before 1980, after which time the couple no longer lived together.
“We were living in the Sacramento area, and so, Jane and I, in the 70′s, I’d say ’78 or so, but I’m not 100 percent sure about that,” Mr. Robinson said. “So, we took care of Seamus, a beautiful, magnificent dog. We had three other dogs of our own, but we had an acre of property overlooking the American River, so we had lots of land to take care of these dogs and for them to roam around in.”
Mr. Robinson said he’s certain they gave the dog back to the Romneys when he and Jane got divorced in 1980. At that point, Jane went to live in Southern California, and Mr. Robinson said she was unable to “handle the dog” on her own.
Mr. Robinson told Polticker that Seamus ran away a lot when he was staying with them, just as he had in Belmont.
So what really happened to Seamus? Did he run away in Canada and seek asylum with a more loving, supportive family? Or did he expire from the stress of riding mile after torturous mile on the roof of a car. Did he die in that “crate” that Ann Romney claims he loved so much? What really happened to Seamus?
The Romneys must be pressed for truthful answers. They cannot be permitted to continue laughing this off in their usual high-handed, dismissive manner. Americans want the truth!
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I wonder if poor Seamus was baptized as a Mormon post-mortem?
I just hope he survived that trip and found some kinder people to care for him.
I really do not like the Romney’s, on a personal level, what is wrong with these people. Remember the son who had a pet fish traveling to California in a water bottle tied to the Uhaul hitch?
Wonderful post BB, I had a link I saw last night, but was too tired to post it:
Little Green Footballs – Video: What It’s Like for a Dog in a Kennel on the Roof of a Car on a Freeway
Are animal or pets allowed in the Mormon heaven?
Serious question. Because when I was nine my Mom told me that my beloved pets would not go to heaven. My answer was — they don’t go — I don’t go.
If the Romney’s can tell us exactly when their dog died — then they are very stupid people.
Good research BB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Northwestrain. I’m glad there are people still taking this seriously and trying to get to the truth. A man who is cruel to animals should never be in a powerful position over other people.
The Sunday church I was made to go to by my mother (who didn’t go herself) had a pastor who earnestly told me that animals didn’t go to heaven. The cracks in the plaster of the good, kind, all-compassionate loving deity started right then.
Romney and his wife should be shoved into a cage in a pound for a few weeks. Hose ’em down once in a while. Feed ’em sparingly on dry kibble. Change their water once a week. They can sleep in the litter box.
Scum.
Amen.
“So what really happened to Seamus?”
Seamus probably chipped into some of Ann’s stock and hopped into the cargo hold of plane headed to Ireland. After 12 hours in a roof top kennel, a cargo hold would be a cakewalk.
BTW, why didn’t anyone ever question Mitt about his assertion that Seamus was in an “air tight” carrier? “Air Tight”? How long could any animal survive in an “air tight” carrier? And how did dog poop run down the windows IF Seamus was in an air tight container? Air tight isn’t poop tight, is it?
Good question. I wonder what kind of “crate” it was.
What I’d like to know is why he couldn’t put the luggage on the roof and let the dog ride with the kids in the back of the station wagon? We had a station wagon when I was a kid and my dad always put the luggage in a roof rack.
We traveled a lot in a station wagon with a luggage roof rack. My dad wouldn’t even put the luggage up there. He knew how unstable it was. Did I mention he was a Ford Dealer and sold these cars? NEVER. EVER. did my dad put anything up on a luggage rack. Wasn’t Romney’s Dad some kind of car executive before he went into politics? (snark)
Mitten’s father was
CEO of the Americans Motors Corporation. Now Mitt’s trying to sell us a used car that will break down right after leaving the lot.
It’s obvious. The luggage was valuable to Mitt and Ann. Seamus was not.
There is something emotionally twisted about people who would do this to an animal, then laugh about it later.
Thanks for the post BB. If they would do this to a family pet, they are shameless people. I shudder to think how he would govern!
In the event you haven’t seen Chris Wallace’s interview discussing Seamus with Mittens, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5II0ZBCuA
My reaction, as a child, to being told my animals weren’t going to heaven was the same as northwestrain’s. They don’t go, neither do I.
Being the cynic that I am, I don’t think we’ll ever know the truth. I find it interesting with all the “don’ts” in the Mormon church that lying isn’t on that don’t list. And, if we know nothing else, Mittens has no problem lying.
Romney implied that the 5 young boys (ages 2-13) were too rambunctious and that would distress Seamus to be in the car with them. I can’t imagine either Ann or Mittens permitting those boys to be rambunctious either in or out of the car. Are Mormon children allowed to get out of control?
With my volunteer work with feral cats in Central Florida, I’ve found that those who most often just want to “get rid of the cats” are churches. So, although we’re led to believe that the Catholic Church, in particular (think St. Francis of Assisi), love animals – that hasn’t been my experience. Here’s a story from March in NYC: http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/wordpress/2012/03/priests-starve-cats-at-st-james-church/ I doubt non-human animals have any more value in the Mormon Church.
RIP, Seamus.
When I was young we did a lot of traveling by car, and without air conditioning, we had the windows open. That blowing air was tiring and took a lot out of you. I can imagine that 12 hours of it would make that dog run away from home.
I remember those days too. Remember those little triangular vent windows you could open all the way to blow on your face?
My mom called those little windows cozies. Go figure. I had them installed on my 1984 Jeep shortly after buying it. They were the best way to get air in the car, even in the rain, without getting smashed in the face by wind rushing in. But, hey, I don’t like automatic windows & door locks. Just something else, car related, that will likely need to be fixed. $$$$$$, yuck.
I always loved those windows. We even had them in the back seat. Now my car windows don’t even open all the way in the back.
Yet another reason to vote Green.
I”ve had Irish Setters. They are big on people and he would have loved to be with the kids. The dog would not be happy being isolated. They do roam if you let them. One of mine used to get picked up once in a while. (They are also very good as escape.) Romney is full of lies about that dog. I’m with the other posters, why wouldn’t you put inanimate luggage on top of the car and the live animal in the car? I think you can tell a lot about a person’s character in how they treat the defenseless, including animals.
Hi Katherine,
That’s interesting about Irish Setters. I agree that a person’s character is reflected in their treatment of animals–and children too.
Who would ever believe such an intelligent couple could do something so stupid and irresponsible. He should never be allowed to own a pet again! Do you think I would ever consider voting for him? Never. To make matters worse they laughed on the Diane Sawyer interview when talking about the incident. Hope Seamus gets the last laugh in this family!
I would believe anything Mr. Robinson says, he surrendered his medical license in CA.
That’s interesting. Will you please provide a link for that? Why did he give up his license?
I assume you meant you don’t believe him? Why does his medical license reflect on what he says about a dog?