Usually, when I’m faced with a story about people making outrageous outfits for their dogs, it goes right into the “Awww” category. There’s just no way that you can get around the fact that dog clothing is the very peak of adorableness, especially when it’s handmade by the owner.
All of the above is true, with a single caveat: It all goes out of the window as soon as you start decorating your doggy’s clothes with Nazi symbols, as did Paul Dutton, of Cambridge, England. Swastikas are not cute. Even Boo the Pomeranian couldn’t make swastikas adorable.
Dutton first came to the attention of the English press last month, when he was kicked out of a local supermarket for shopping while dressed in an SS uniform. He admits to having something of an obsession with Hitler: “I am mesmerised by the swastika,” he told a reporter. “Hitler is my whole life, it’s not just a hobby. People look to God in times of need, but Hitler is my God.” Dutton also bears swastika tattoos on the backs of his hands and fingers.
His habit of strolling around Cambridge in Nazi uniforms is bad enough, but he’s turned the strangeness all the way up to 11 by extending his hobby to his dog, Albie. Dutton spent two months lovingly making a beige, wool-lined coat for Albie. Again, this would be adorable and touching, except that the coat has a big black swastika and several SS badges on the back.
“Albie doesn’t mind and it’s just a nice little coat for him,” Dutton said. “I put a lot of effort into making it, it took a long time to make and I’m proud of it. Now we can march as Hitler’s men.” Although he and his wife have several children, he says that she won’t let them participate in his Hitler hobby.
Regardless of Albie’s thoughts on the matter, as a Chinese Crested, he seems kind of like an atypical dog to be fighting for the return of the Third Reich. In my experience, white supremacists and neofascists of all stripes tend to favor dogs that can be trained to be aggressive. Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, and Dobermans are more fashionable breeds among white supremacists. At least in the United States; I have no idea if it’s typical for racists in the UK to favor Toy Poodles, Chihuahuas, or other breeds.
There’s one thing in Dutton’s favor. Unlike your standard Hitler enthusiasts, who tend to see themselves as the only sane people left, Dutton has told the press that he attributes his obsession with Hitler to long-term mental health issues. The Cambridge News reports that Dutton “has a Facebook page and a website which contain long rambling accounts of what he describes as his ‘Struggle for Sanity’.”
Hopefully, he’ll win that struggle eventually, and Albie and he will get some more appropriate clothes to walk in.
Via Cambridge News
