Romney Backer Under Fire For Involvement In Ancient Canine Cookout

http://www.politicker.com/2012/04/12/romney-dog-cookout/

Hunter Walker 4/12 12:22pm

Mitt Romney’s latest canine controversy involves his bundler Fred Malek who was arrested over 50 years ago in conjunction with an incident where a dog was killed and barbecued in an Illinois park. Mr. Malek is hosting a fundraiser for the Romney campaign on Monday in honor of Ann Romney’s birthday. Dogs Against Romney, the stealth PAC backed group dedicated to dogging Mr. Romney about the 1983 incident where he put his Irish Setter on the roof of his car, sent a press release this morning pointing out Mr. Romney’s upcoming fundraiser is hosted by “fellow animal abuser Fred Malek.”

Mr. Malek, who was 22-years-old at the time, was one of five men arrested in August 1959 after police in Peoria, Illinois found them around a grisly scene in a public park where a dog had been skinned, disemboweled and barbecued on a spit. Charges against Mr. Malek were eventually dismissed after one of his companions testified they were solely responsible for killing the animal and attempting to cook it. In 2006, Mr. Malek told Washington Post columnist Colbert King he and the other men arrested at the site of the canine cookout were “drunk out of their minds at the time” and that he merely watched the proceedings and was in no position to stop them. This explanation has not satisfied Dogs Against Romney.