Actress Betty White, 93, Criticizes Sarah Palinâs Dog Photo: âThat Poor Bitchâ
Actress and animal advocate Betty White reportedly criticized former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for allowing her son Trig to use the family dog âJillâ as a kitchen stepstool, according to an upcoming interview in Dogs âNâ Dames, the magazine and charity that matches widowed senior citizens with companion animals. âThat poor bitch,â joked White in the upcoming article, âthe dog, I mean â not the Governor â I adore her. I mean Jill, their family pet she let her son stand on. I donât approve of that at all, not for anyone. Dogs are pets, not furniture,â said White, according to a publicity aide for the charity. In the interview scheduled for publication Jan. 15, White speaks on a broad range of topics, from her decades long television career â which began in 1949 â to comments about her health, longevity and animal advocacy work. âAnimals donât lie. Animals donât criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do,â White wrote in her 2011 autobiography, If You Ask Me. It is just this sentiment that has given pause to millions of animal lovers and sensitive types offering strong reactions to former Governor Palinâs family photo. âAnimals also canât speak for themselves,â says Dana Blunt, self-described animal activist and PETA supporter. âSarah Palin assumes that her dog wasnât abused, but the dog canât speak for herself. Sheâs put words in the animalâs mouth which I consider a crime against humanity and verbal abuse.â White, now 93, is best known as âRose Nylundâ from the 80âs sitcom The Golden Girls, and as man hungry âSue Ann Nivensâ in The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 70âs. The actress and author is currently taping the 6th and final season of her latest sitcom, Hot In Cleveland. Her work with theÂ Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, along with other charities and animal organizations, is credited with improving zoo conditions not only in the US but also around the world. The controversy over the Palin photograph is not likely to die down anytime soon, especially after her Facebook editors shot back with the now viral âAt least Trig didnât eat the dogâ comment, aimed squarely at PETA and at Barack Obama, who admitted that as a child, he once ate dog meat in Indonesia with his mother and step-father, Lolo Soetoro. As for now, the star of the show seems to be Palin family pet Jill. âEvery dog has its day,â as the saying goes.