Seamus, presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s long-departed Irish Setter, made headlines around the world when news broke that Romney had carried the dog in a crate tied to the roof of his car from Boston to Canada in 1983. The trip ended with the dog suffering from a bout of diarrhea.
The revelation sparked howls of protest from animal lovers and inspired everything from YouTube videos to gag T-shirts lambasting Romney’s actions.
But until now, Seamus’s legions of supporters had no idea what the dog actually looked like.
Romney’s sister, Jane, provided the Boston Globe with a photo of Seamus taken during the time the dog lived with her and her family in California.
Jane says her brother sent Seamus to live with Jane when the dog kept escaping from their home. Jane says Seamus was so social and wanted to visit neighbors that “they were worried about him getting hit crossing the street,” Jane told the Globe. “We had more space, so he could roam more freely.”
Jane says Seamus hated cats when he came to live with her family. But when one of her cats had a litter of kittens, she says, Seamus changed his tune. He let the kittens crawl all over him, and he became protective of them, she says. “This dog was Mr. Personality.”
To view a picture of Seamus, click here.