Even conservative Fox News, Chris Wallace, lectured Romney in an interview. Wallace said, “I have a yellow lab named Winston. I would no sooner put him in a kennel on the roof of my car than I would one of my children. Question: What were you thinking?” Romney responded, “This is a completely airtight kennel, mounted on the top of our car. He climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself, he was in a kennel at home a great deal of the time as well. We loved the dog, it was where he was comfortable and we had five kids inside the car and my guess is he liked it a lot better in his kennel than he would have liked it inside.”
Michael Markarian of the Humane Society Legislative Fund said on NPR that, “Two-thirds of American households have pets. And the pet care industry is a $51 billion a year industry. That’s more than movies, recorded music and video games combined.” Furthermore, he points out that “there are more than 20,000 animal protection groups in the U.S…and they collectively raise about $2 billion a year. It’s an incredible expression of philanthropy from people who care about animals and want to see them protected from harm.”
NPR points out that “many of them won’t vote for someone who they perceive mistreated his dog, regardless of party. About the only good news for Romney and his dog story? Last year President Obama got only a C minus from the Humane Society for his work helping animals.”
The American Partnership 