Tale of the dog is causing a stink for Romney

An example of Mitt Romney’s crisis-management skills has turned into something of a political problem for the Republican presidential contender.

Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen the former Massachusetts governor erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack.

Now the story, recounted this week in a Boston Globe profile of Romney, has touched off outrage from bloggers and animal rights activists even though it was presented in the story as an example of Romney’s coolness under trying circumstances.

Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told Time magazine’s “Swampland” blog: “If you wouldn’t strap your child to the roof of your car, you have no business doing that to the family dog!”

Romney dismissed any outcry about the 24-year-old incident, saying the dog enjoyed his rooftop perch.