JAN. 3, 2015 UPDATE: Sarah Palin finally responded on her Facebook page this afternoon to the outrage over the photos she posted:
“Chill. At least Trig didn’t eat the dog.
Hey, by the way, remember your “Woman of the Year”, Ellen DeGeneres? Did you get all wee-wee’d up when she posted this sweet picture [a child standing on a dog]? Hypocritical, much?
Did you go as crazy when your heroic Man-of-Your-Lifetime, Barack Obama, revealed he actually enjoyed eating dead dog meat?”
Ooh, burn! Her barrage against PETA goes on for a few more paragraphs, then concludes with this:
“Our pets, including Trig’s best buddy Jill Hadassah, are loved, spoiled and cared for more than some people care for their fellow man whose politics may not mesh with nonsensical liberally failed ways or don’t fit your flighty standards. Jill is a precious part of our world. So is Trig.”
So Palin has Jill’s back. Hopefully Trig won’t end up breaking it.
Remember when Sarah Palin famously said the difference between Pit Bulls and hockey moms was “lipstick” — helping fuel the stereotype of the breed as being aggressive? And who, when she was governor of Alaska, supported killing wolves by shooting them from helicopters?
The former vice presidential candidate is once again earning the wrath of animal lovers.
Photos she posted on her Facebook page Thursday show her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome, using the family’s black Lab as a step stool. Which was fine with Palin.
“May 2015 see every stumbling block turned into a stepping stone on the path forward. Trig just reminded me,” Palin wrote in the caption. “He, determined to help wash dishes with an oblivious mama not acknowledging his signs for ‘up!’, found me and a lazy dog blocking his way. He made his stepping stone.”
Cathy Liss, president of the Animal Welfare Institute, also has a child with Down syndrome. In a statement, she said she understands how a relationship between a child with special needs and the family pet can be beneficial to the child.
“That said, it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that the interaction is safe and appropriate for both,” Liss added. “Although perhaps a seemingly innocent post on Facebook by Palin, a child standing on a dog is not safe for either the child or the dog.”
More than 21,000 comments have been made on the Facebook photos.
“Being a parent of a child with special needs (downs syndrome) this is not the proper way to teach a child,” wrote Linda Whitehead.
Many Palin supporters have no problem with the photos, however.
“Get over it liberal tree hugging morons! The dog is fine!” wrote Josh Robinson. “‘Oh that poor dog, animal abuse, etc.’ Give me a break!”
I may be a liberal tree-hugging moron, but I think that even someone who can see Russia from her Alaska home should have enough sense to realize that putting so much pressure on a dog’s back can cause serious injury to his spine.
Palin has not yet commented on the reaction to her photos.
Photo via Facebook