What's missing from this picture?
On the heels of an American Kennel Club poll asking the question, "What kind of dog should the Obamas buy?" comes another asking the public where the Obamas should get their dog.
If it all seems to you like way too much poking one's nose in somebody else's business -- after all we didn't get to vote on whom Bill Clinton should dally with, or whether Jenna Bush should live in Canton or Federal Hill -- then we're in agreement.
But at least the poll sponsored by the Humane Society Legislative Fund has a valid point behind it.
If you haven't been following the story, the Obama family has no dog, and the Democratic candidate has stated that after the campaign, win or lose, they plan to get one.
Meanwhile, Republican candidate John McCain, with 24 pets at home, has been shown in a new AP-Yahoo News survey to be favored by pet owners by 42 to 37 percent. Dog owners support McCain by an even larger margin.
Among people who don't have pets, Obama leads McCain 48 percent to 34 percent. The American Pet Product Manufacturers Association estimates that 63 percent of American homes include a pet, including 88 million cats and 75 million dogs.
As Michael Markarian, president of The Humane Society Legislative Fund, an arm of the Humane Society of the United States, explains the support for McCain among pet owners is likely due to the fact that pet owners are more likely to be white and married -- both demographics among which McCain has higher appeal.
Markarian in a recent entry on his blog, said he doubts that McCain's menagerie translates into more support among the cat, doggie and gerbil crowds.
Markarian also came up with his own answer to the American Kennel Club poll, announced last week, that is allowing people to vote online for which breed of dog the Obamas should get -- limiting that voting to five non-allergenic breeds.
As responses to that item on our blog shows, there's widespread support for the concept that the Obamas should get a mutt, more particularly one that's in need of a home.
Markarian is asking readers to "weigh in on where the Obamas should get their dog after the election — from an animal shelter, a breed rescue group, a pet store, a small breeder, or an Internet seller — and we will forward the results of our survey to the Obama campaign."
Of course, as an animal advocate, he goes on to make it clear which choice is best: "Dogs purchased from pet stores and over the Internet come from factory-style puppy mills, where breeding adult dogs live their entire lives in filthy, wire cages. They are treated like a cash crop and receive no socialization or human interaction, making them sick, diseased and crazed with loneliness. Wonderful dogs in need of loving homes can be found at animal shelters and rescue groups — whether they are mutts or pure-bred."
To vote in Markarian's poll, click here.
To vote in the AKC poll, click here.
(Photo from Barackobama.com)
Comments
Well, after reading that his daughters have allergies I understand why they don't have a dog. But perhaps one from a breed rescue group like a Westie or a Poodle (low allergen levels) would be the best course of action.
Posted by: BaltimoreGal | July 10, 2008 2:32 PM
Senator Obama has been promising his daughters since before the campaign began that they could adopt a dog after the campaign ends. The Obama family has already provided a good model for pet ownership--you shouldn't get a pet when there's no chance of giving the pet stability and plenty of attention. I'm hoping the Obamas will go for a shelter mix, of course.
Kind of sad to think Senator Obama could call the new dog Snoopy or Spook or Fisa after his vote this week. Ah, realpolitik.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | July 10, 2008 9:30 PM