WKC Mitt protest misses the mark

By: Daisy

Let me begin by saying I'm no fan of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Anyone who puts his dog in a crate on the roof of their car on a cross-country drive -- as Mitt reportedly did in 1983 with the family Irish setter, Seamus -- well, Mitt, "you ain't no friend of mine," as Elvis Presley sang in "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog."
But the "Dogs Against Romney" protest planned for noontime today in New York City has picked the wrong location: The Westminster Kennel Club dog show. "Dogs Against Romney" is an advocacy group that says it doesn't endorse any particular presidential candidate ... but it also says today's protest will "serve to complement" the work of another group, "Pet Lovers for Obama." Well, these groups are barking up the wrong tree.
Today, when attention should be focused on who is best in show (I'm rooting for my fellow Westies, natch) the crowd at Madison Square Garden will see the distracting presence of demonstrators. Worse yet, these demonstrators are protesting a cause that has NOTHING TO DO with the dog show.
From the "Dogs Against Romney" website:

The protest is sponsored by Dogs Against Romney - and will seek to focus more public attention on the fact that Romney forced his dog to ride for 12-hours on the roof of his car - and even coldly hosed the dog down with water after he became ill and frightened, soiling himself - before driving for hours more - all while Romney's luggage rode inside the car.

Yikes! Yet from my cozy sunbeam atop the comforter on my bed in Massachusetts, let me offer the following objective observations to my human friends:
First, you might have some company on the barricades out on Seventh Avenue. PETA has protested the WKC show in the past, for a different and more relevant reason. "PETA's beagle brigade made sure that everyone heard the ugly truth about doggie beauty pageants and the dog-breeding industry," writer Lindsay Pollard-Post noted last year. "They kill shelter dogs' chances."
And second, while you're howling at the moon (or the sun, in this case), your quarry is getting away. It looks like Mitt is NOWHERE NEAR NYC. On Monday he tweeted he was soaking up the sun in Arizona. "Great event yesterday in Mesa," his campaign tweeted, "and look forward to being back for more campaigning & the CNN debate."
So I will sum up by telling "Dogs Against Romney" that if they really want to hound Mitt, they should go after the candidate ... and leave the show dogs alone.

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column appears weekly.