Lonzie Cox – 2/17/08

This page was last updated on February 17, 2008.

Inconsistent outrage; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; February 17, 2008. I am not related to Mr. Cox.

Mr. Cox is back to his focus on Republican bashing and race. If Mr. Vick were white and Messrs. Huckabee and Romney were black and/or Democrat, history indicates Mr. Cox most likely would not have written this letter.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“All last summer, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was exhibited as public enemy No. 1 for abusing dogs. The media whipped the public into a crazed frenzy. Vick’s name was mud. I was just about convinced that the American love of dogs was the greatest love of all.”

[RWC] Before we proceed, let’s review Mr. Vick’s crimes. Mr. Vick financed, provided property for, and participated in a dog fighting business (Bad Newz Kennels). In addition, Mr. Vick killed dogs that did not perform up to standards, sometimes torturing them first.

“Recently, it was shown that the American outrage is inconsistent and even selective where animal abuse is concerned. Mitt Romney, the suspended Republican presidential candidate, once took a 12-hour trip from Boston to Ontario with his pet Irish setter strapped on top of his car, with “explosive diarrhea,” as one article described it. It was gross animal cruelty and against Massachusetts state law as well.”

[RWC] FYI, this incident took place 25 years ago in 1983. Would I have put a dog in a pet carrier complete with a windshield on my car roof? Probably not, but was it “gross animal cruelty?” Other than diarrhea that may or may not have been caused by being on the car roof, the pet made the journey without problem. How does that compare to Mr. Vick’s actions? At worst, Mr. Romney would be guilty of poor judgment because he intended no harm. In Mr. Vick’s case, his business was based on harm coming to the dogs.

Regarding being “against Massachusetts state law,” all the articles I found said something to the effect that “An officer for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals declined to give a definitive opinion on whether Romney broke the law.”

“Michael Huckabee, the Arkansas Republican presidential candidate, has a son named David. In April 2007, David Huckabee was caught carrying a handgun at Little Rock Airport.”

[RWC] Though Mr. Huckabee had a concealed carry permit for the pistol, his action was absolutely illegal and stupid (a misdemeanor). What knucklehead doesn’t know you can’t take a weapon on a plane whether you have a permit or not?

“His subsequent arrest brought out another story that had been suppressed because his father was the governor of Arkansas. The story was that David Huckabee, as a 17-year-old Boy Scouts of America camp counselor in 1998, encountered a stray dog one day. It’s reported that young Huckabee then hung the dog over a fence and slit the dog’s throat.

“Now that is animal cruelty. David Huckabee was fired as a camp counselor and that’s all that happened to him because his father Michael, the preacher and the governor, had connections who killed the story.”

[RWC] According to snopes.com, the circumstances of the dog’s death are speculation, not fact. Snopes says the report “that young Huckabee then hung the dog over a fence and slit the dog’s throat” is an anonymous rumor. For details, see “Slain Dog.”

For the sake of argument, let’s say things happened as Mr. Cox claims. Though it would have been despicable and should have been punished appropriately, how does an apparently isolated incident compare to Mr. Vick running a business (Bad Newz Kennels) for years based on torturing and killing dogs?

“So where is PETA, the Humane Society and the vicious media? Or is Vick the only one who evokes such outrage from Americans?”

[RWC] According to Newsweek, the Animal Legal Defense Fund did get involved in the Huckabee case. Also, PETA got wound up over the 25-year-old Romney incident. I guess Mr. Cox missed it.

FYI, PETA’s hands aren’t clean by any stretch of the imagination. During 2006 in Virginia, PETA killed 2,981 of the 3,043 pets surrendered by owners (and not reclaimed by the owner) and found homes for only 12. Yep, that’s right folks. PETA euthanized 98% of the pets left for adoption while finding homes for only 0.4%! I don’t know their stats, but check with the Beaver County Humane Society in Center Township and I’ll be willing to bet its death rate is nowhere near 98%. Of wildlife received by PETA, only one was returned to the wild while 248 were euthanized. That’s some record for an organization with “ethical treatment” in its name.