Pet owners - is this a big deal? Strapping a dog to the roof of your car while you drive it for 12 hours?

[HAL 9000 96]

Probably done out of pure ignorance... not something I'd do to any animal... specially a family pet... but the action itself probably sheds light on the man's ability to think of others' well being. Not a whole lot, I presume.

[Ban Hammer 13,692]

But it's a dog.

yeah i'd be worried if it was a cat.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

But it's a dog.

yeah i'd be worried if it was a cat.

[Dan J 277]

The reason why this is a big deal is it illustrates the lack of common sense, the lack of sensitivity, and the poor decision making skills of Romney, a potential candidate for a VP nomination. That is the reason why it is important. Do you want someone in a potential position to make decisions for the country who has demonstrated such poor judgment and lack of sensitivity in making previous decisions? The 'small picture' often gives a good indication of the 'bigger picture'.

If that's the best there is as to why Romney shouldn't be the Rep VP candidate - I'm sorry but that's ridiculous.

I mean... what's next?

OMG! He dropped a coke can in the woods during a camping trip in '76. String him up by the nads!

Romney's biggest problem as a VP candidate is that he is worth too much. At a time when economy is a major issue.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The guy isn't my bag anyway - but should we really care about "poor judgement" as it pertains to peoples personal lives to the point where we drag in modern day experts to talk about frankly pedestrian events that took place 25 years ago?

Should a guy have his political career ruined because he put up a summer house without planning permission 30 years ago? Or because he chanced out of date chicken and gave his family food poisoning?

Honestly - this stuff is really silly.

The reason why this is a big deal is it illustrates the lack of common sense, the lack of sensitivity, and the poor decision making skills of Romney, a potential candidate for a VP nomination. That is the reason why it is important. Do you want someone in a potential position to make decisions for the country who has demonstrated such poor judgment and lack of sensitivity in making previous decisions? The 'small picture' often gives a good indication of the 'bigger picture'.

If that's the best there is as to why Romney shouldn't be the Rep VP candidate - I'm sorry but that's ridiculous.

I mean... what's next?

OMG! He dropped a coke can in the woods during a camping trip in '76. String him up by the nads!

Romney's biggest problem as a VP candidate is that he is worth too much. At a time when economy is a major issue.

Well none of the other candidates are exactly "poor" are they?

Yet accusations of "elitism" abound.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Number 6

[HAL 9000 96]

The reason why this is a big deal is it illustrates the lack of common sense, the lack of sensitivity, and the poor decision making skills of Romney, a potential candidate for a VP nomination. That is the reason why it is important. Do you want someone in a potential position to make decisions for the country who has demonstrated such poor judgment and lack of sensitivity in making previous decisions? The 'small picture' often gives a good indication of the 'bigger picture'.

If that's the best there is as to why Romney shouldn't be the Rep VP candidate - I'm sorry but that's ridiculous.

I mean... what's next?

OMG! He dropped a coke can in the woods during a camping trip in '76. String him up by the nads!

Romney's biggest problem as a VP candidate is that he is worth too much. At a time when economy is a major issue.

How elitist of you to mention he's rich.

[Muh and me 18]

The more i read, the more upset i get. My dog and cat are like my children!! Would you put your child on the roof of your car in a cage for 12 hours nonstop? I bet not. That man should be strung up for animal crulty. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

That man should be strung up for animal crulty. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Are you advocating the death penalty for Mitt Romney?

[DeadPoolX 9]

I think the important thing to remember here is that Romney didn't intentionally do harm to that dog. Did he make an error in judgment? Sure, but who hasn't? At least he kept the dog tied down and constructed a windshield for it, which to me is more protection than letting your dog sit loose in the flatbed of a pickup truck. If you do that and stop short or hit a rough bump in the road, well... you're going to watch your beloved pup go splat.

Yet somehow, the latter is "fun for pooches everywhere" and what Romney did "extreme animal cruelty!" Maybe I just don't get it. Oh well. It doesn't matter anyway. As Number 6 said, this occurred a quarter of a century ago and is hardly relevant to a potential spot as VP. Unless of course the plan is that he'll be greeting and taking care of canines the world over. Somehow, I just don't see that happening.

[Jenn! 918]

There are so many better reasons to dislike Romney!

[Scott & Lai 12]

This was 25 years ago. I'd say it probably isn't a big deal.

Yeah, things were definately different 25 years ago.

Yep. When my sister and I were kids, we would often sit in the back of the family station wagon on vacation trips, with no seats to say nothing of seatbelts. It was common then. Probably not a good idea, but the mindset and knowledge were different then. It isn't that people just didn't care.

[caybee 21]

This was 25 years ago. I'd say it probably isn't a big deal.

Yeah, things were definately different 25 years ago.

Yep. When my sister and I were kids, we would often sit in the back of the family station wagon on vacation trips, with no seats to say nothing of seatbelts. It was common then. Probably not a good idea, but the mindset and knowledge were different then. It isn't that people just didn't care.

Very true. We often slept on the floor or on the back ledge of the car during long trips (not sure we were on the ledge when the car was moving, but I clearly remember sleeping up there). At one point, we had some sort of harness attached to the seatbelt so we could crawl around a little but still be "caught" and kept from flying into the front seat in case of a a sudden stop. And the rule was no leaning against the car door to sleep unless we used a pillow for padding. I don't think this incident from 25 years ago is very relevant to Romney's political career now, but it still sickens me to think of it, just as it makes me cringe to think how vulnerable we were in the back seat of that car as kids. We see things with different eyes now.

[ronjie 0]

The more i read, the more upset i get. My dog and cat are like my children!! Would you put your child on the roof of your car in a cage for 12 hours nonstop? I bet not. That man should be strung up for animal crulty. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

yes, but not without a car seat..ohh yea, and a dvd player with a 10" screen

[panamania79 2]

It's the true story of Mitt Romney's 1983 family vacation, according to an article in Wednesday's Boston Globe.

...

"Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. He'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog," read the article.

...

Physicist Dr. W.J. Llope, a senior faculty fellow at Rice University ... said putting a dog on top of a car is just like putting anything or anyone else on the roof.

"What happens to a dog in this situation is precisely what would happen to any of us in the same situation: Trapped in a box for 12 hours would be no one's idea of comfortable," said Llope.

Dr. Russell Cumming, a professor of aerospace engineering at California Polytechnic State University, got a little more technical.

"At that speed, assuming sea level conditions, the poor little dog would have about 10 pounds per square foot pressing against his head," said Cumming.

And in layman's terms?

"He would constantly feel a little less than 3 pounds pressing on his head for the entire trip," he added. "The windshield would help, but boy that would get tired."

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Douglas Osheroff of physics at Stanford University said the dog crate on top of the car would change the air flow around the vehicle.

"Beyond a certain velocity, the air flow becomes turbulent," said Osheroff. "The airflow isn't going to be laminar," which means it won't have a uniform distribution.

Cumming said that's bad news for Seamus.

"Chances are the windshield would only protect the front of the dog, but the air flowing around the windshield would buffet the side of the dog -- that would be tiring," said Cummings. "My wife's a vet, and she would be more worried by the dehydration of the dog's eyes under those conditions."

In addition to dehydration, fatigue and fright, Seamus was strapped on top of a car for 12 hours with limited or no bathroom breaks -- a condition that was highlighted in the Boston Globe article.

"A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours," the article said.

After his son noticed the liquid, Romney pulled the car over and hosed down Seamus at a gas station before putting him back into the crate on top of the car and continuing on with the drive.

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3329017

That's animal abuse !

[ronjie 0]

maybe the dog had gas and couldn't ride inside, dogs ride in boats, motorcycle sidecars, open cockpit planes (snoopy), and they have even parachuted out of planes. does anyone know for sure the dog was kept in the crate for 12 hours without exercise or a break of some sort. just coz its a 12 hour ride doesn't mean the dog didn't get out for 12 hours. is a family riding on top of a jeepney or bus cruel? it happens everyday. i guess in the bottom of a jet far away from the family in the darkness with wild noises from the engines are ok. i have no reason to judge him for that.