Dogs Against Romney, the online protest group upset with how Mitt Romney treated his dog in 1983, wants the world to know the Mitt Romney campaign will benefit from a fundraiser hosted by "fellow dog abuser" Fred Malek next week.
In 1959, when he was 22, Malek and a group of friends were arrested for animal cruelty after they killed and barbecued a dog. The Washington Post reported in 2006 that charges were dismissed against Malek and three other men when one of their friends testified that he alone was responsible for the incident. Post columnist Colbert King interviewed Malek, who said he and his friends were drunk out of their minds. "He said he didn't know why [Andrew] O'Meara had killed the dog, that he was not a participant and that he was in no position to stop it."
In a release sent to reporters Thursday by Americans United for Change, a group allied with President Barack Obama, Dogs Against Romney connected Malek's attendance at the bizarre dog barbecue 50 years ago to Romney's mistreatment of his family's Irish Setter. In the early 1980s, the Romneys drove to Canada while the dog, Seamus, sat in a crate fastened to the roof of the car for 12 hours. Seamus suffered diarrhea during the trip.
In its release, Dogs Against Romney asked, "What is it with Mitt Romney and animal cruelty?"
Malek is a former president of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines and also served in the Nixon and Bush administrations. The dog incident is not among his better-known scandals.