Dogs riding in cars should be secured in the car for safety.
Driving is an adventure these days with the stop-and-start traffic, and the sheer magnitude of people who seem to suddenly have forgotten how to drive. Most days, just getting behind the wheel is risky.
And while these things are in a constant state of change, one thing that never changes is the people's deep love for dogs. So it always boggles my mind when I see drivers with their beloved dogs in the car without some form of animal restraint. Recently, I have counted over twenty dogs riding inappropriately in cars; these dogs might be riding in owners’ laps, hanging out car windows, or standing free in truck beds.
We’re all guilty of wanting our dogs close to us, but what would happen to our dogs in the event of an accident? Let’s face facts: dogs are smaller than humans, and in most instances, weigh less. This means that in a crash, momentum could cause a dog’s body to become a projectile, injuring not only the dog, but also anyone near. Without some kind of formal restraint in the car, most of these dogs will die. Frankly that knowledge terrifies me, and I’m sure it scares many of you. But what can we do to prevent something like this from happening?
The safest things you can do for yourself and your dog is either to harness her into the backseat, or put her into a car kennel that buckles—again, this would go in the backseat (they work great for cats and small pets, too). Maybe you’d like to have your dog beside you in the car, but consider a car crash: your dog may never have another chance to run at the dog park, to get belly rubs, or to lick your face when you’re sad—or even when you’re happy. Buckling your dog into the backseat might seem strange, but it’s no less than what we would do for our children. We fasten their seat belts because we want to keep them safe…we don’t let them hang out the window when driving down the freeway, either.
Let’s do the same for our pets, and keep them safe, too. Let’s make a commitment: to restrain our dogs when in the car—for their safety and for ours.
Source: http://www.petsitusa.com/blog/?paged=23#sthash.17WAmnr6.dpuf
