Traveling With Your Companion Animal
by Laurie Cecil
(Check out my new Traveling With Your Companion Animal brochure located at the FETCH Off-Leash dog parks here on Whidbey Island.)
Over the years I've noticed that too many people drive around with their dog in the back of their pickup truck, or unrestrained in their car. When I see this I wonder if these people really know the dangers they are putting their dog in:
Do they know that they are risking their dog's life?
Do they know that their dog could jump or fall out of the moving truck? The dog could be injured or killed from the fall, or be hit and killed by oncoming traffic if it did survive the jump or fall?
Do they know that if they had to stop suddenly, that their dog would slam into the cab of the truck or even worse, go flying through the air to certain death?
Do they know that their unrestrained dog could go flying through the car, hit the dashboard, or go through the windshield?
Do they know that if they are just relying on a leash to restrain their dog in the back of their pickup truck that their dog could still go over the side of the truck and hang itself, causing serious injury and even death?
Do they know that even if they have restrained their dog with "tie downs" in the back of their pickup truck, that this is no protection for their dog if they were in a roll-over accident? The weight of the vehicle would crush their beloved companion.
Do they know that even if they use a travel kennel that wasn't tied down, the travel kennel would slam into the cab, or go flying through the air if they had to break suddenly or were in an accident?
Do they know that if they use a travel kennel in the back of their open truck and think that their dog is safe with it tied down, that if they were in a roll-over accident, that kennel wouldn't save their dog's life, but be thrown from or crushed by the truck?
Do they know that if their dog is not crated and they were in an accident, their dog can prevent emergency people from helping them? A frightened animal may not let a stranger access the vehicle. Rescue workers may then have to destroy the injured person's pet to render aid.
The reality is that a dog is never safe in the back of a pickup truck. This frightens me when I see how people just don't think. Where's their "common sense" at? People seem to think it's "macho" to drive around with their dogs in the backs of their trucks. If they only realized just how irresponsible they look to people who see this happen. What people think is that it's a shame to put this innocent animal's life at risk in such a way. People put their children in safety seats and seat belts, they use seat belts themselves when they are driving. Isn't their dog's life just as important?
There are several things that dog or animal owners can do and items they can use to keep their dog safe. First of all, never travel with your dog in the back of a pickup truck. Your dog should be inside of the truck with you, preferably secured by a car safety harness that attaches to the seat belt to restrain your dog on the seat. These safety harnesses come in a variety of sizes and can be adjusted to fit your dog. You can use a barrier specifically made for your vehicle to keep your dog in the back if you have a sub-compact car, standard size, sedan, wagon, Jeep, sport utility vehicle, mini van, or full size van. You can use a travel kennel secured on the inside of your vehicle to keep your dog or animal safe. If you can't travel safely with your dog or animal, please leave them at home. Animals gives you so much love, show the same in return and keep your animals safe from harm.
Below are a few stories that were sent to me by other groomers and I'll share them with you. They show, in reality, just how dangerous traveling with your dog can be if your dog isn't properly secured in your vehicle.
My first groom for this day was a St. Bernard coming in when the shop opened at 8 am. At about 8:30 am a pickup pulled into the driveway and a frantic lady rushed in. We could hardly understand her because of her crying, but a few words got to my husband and we rushed to the truck.
There was a huge, what looked to be a dog, with about a third of its body hide actually torn off. My husband ran back into the shop for towels to wrap up the dog and soak up the blood.
I called my vet and he wasn't in yet, but they said he was expected soon. They would call his home and let him know an emergency was coming in. My husband and the client went to the veterinarian's office.
The lady said she had turned a corner and her dog fell out of the truck. The size of this dog falling on gravel road caused all this damage. The lady said a man had stopped and helped her get the dog back into the truck. This dog only lived three days after the accident.
By: Groomer
After a pro handler friend of mine was in an accident in his show van, I am a believer in crates for traveling with animals. He was in the hospital for a month and in a body cast for three months after that. The van was totaled. Not one of the 11 dogs crated in the back were injured beyond a few scrapes and bumps.
By: Valerie T.-Groomer
I like to have my clients transport their dogs either securely restrained or in crates. Here are my reasons:
1. One of my customers had a tiny Yorkshire terrier riding in the front seat. The customer slammed on the brakes and the dog hit the dashboard. The dog had a severe head injury and died soon after.
2. Crates keep the dog from distracting the owner while driving, therefore keeping everyone safer.
3. Crate trained dogs feel safer and are calmer during transport.
4. Should the animal have a potty accident in it's crate, it's more easily contained. Most of my clients are on their way to work or somewhere while their dogs are with them. They don't have time to run home and clean up the car interior and change clothes.
5. If the transport vehicle breaks down, or is involved in an accident, the police or wrecker services are more willing to help transport a crated dog, but not an uncrated dog.
6. For those traveling with children in the same vehicle as dogs, the poor dog has nowhere to run. It is the center of the child's attention, since the child is in it's car seat or restraint. The parent is busy driving and can not watch the interactions between the child and dog. Children can be cruel when not supervised or not properly shown how to respect an animal when the parent isn't watching.
By: Terri C.-Groomer
We were traveling back home from a dog show and had our 12 dogs with us. (Chihuahuas and Chinese Crested) All of the dogs were individually crated. We were involved in a bad accident. My husband hit a stalled car in the center lane of the freeway and he hit it at 65 mph. It totaled our car and the other car burst into flames. We were pretty banged up, but not one dog was injured. Made me a believer in crating dogs and I most definitely think the crates protected the dogs and saved their lives. We did have one crate come open, but the dog wasn't hurt at all. She was still in the crate with the door open. The highway patrolman told us that they are not supposed to transport the dogs, but he loaded all 12 crated dogs in the back of his car and took us to get a rental car.
I don't even want to think of what could have happened if the dogs had been loose. They would have been killed from the accident or from running on the freeway. I don't know if the highway patrolman would have been so generous if the dogs had been loose.
By: Groomer
Think about what could happen the next time you travel with your animals. Keep your animals safe, they depend on you for their safety.