Car safety gives pet owners pause

Treat your four-legged friends like children – buckle them up

Feb 20, 2009

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Special to The Star

Many people treat their pets as full-fledged members of the family – they give them the best food and the best care. But while they buckle up their children for even the shortest car trip, thousands of pet owners take a big gamble by letting Buddy ride unsecured.

Sitting up front, a dog risks fatal injury from even a minor collision if the airbag deploys. In the rear seat, it can be thrown with enough force to injure human passengers. And should you require aid, your dog could attack the paramedic or firefighter who's trying to help you.

The safest place for your pet is tethered to the rear seat of your car or the cargo area of SUVs or wagons, says Christina Selter, a pet safety expert with the California-based advocacy group Bark Buckle UP.

"They can sit down or move around, but they can't fall off the seat, and they can't get out of the vehicle," she says. "For cats and smaller dogs, they should be in a carrier that's secured with tie-downs, because if you just sit that on the seat, it'll fly through the car."

Selter says that in a collision at 56 km/h, an unsecured 27-kg (60-pound) dog will launch with a force of 1,224 kg (2,700 pounds).

"If it hit you in the back of the neck, it would break your neck – or be launched through the windshield," she says. "With small dogs, people like to drive with them on their lap. That airbag comes out at about 200 m.p.h. (321 km/h). It will kill that little dog in your lap, and also cause more damage to you as a driver or passenger because the airbag is pressing that dog into your internal organs."

Hitting the brakes hard could topple a pet off the seat, potentially fracturing its limbs. Something interesting outside could provoke it to jump through an open window. A small animal can also get behind the brake pedal – a double whammy, since it prevents the driver from stopping safely as it suffers injuries from being jammed between the pedal and the floor.

If the pet survives, be prepared for vet bills.

"With any sort of fracture, I'd say it could easily be $1,500 to $2,000," says Steven Snider, a veterinarian at Callbeck Animal Hospital in Oshawa. "That's a lot of money for something that's easily prevented. Vets see all different types of trauma: spinal fractures, broken bones, contusions of various organs like the liver, and abdominal injuries."

Even if an unrestrained pet isn't injured, there's an additional risk.

"An animal can be very protective of its owner, and may want to bite a first responder," says Stephan Powell, district chief of Toronto Fire Services. "In the rare instance where an animal won't let someone in, we'd have to wait for police or animal services."

Pets will also dart out when the door is opened, which can happen if a responder isn't aware that a frightened animal is cowering under the seat. It can be killed running into traffic, or cause a second collision as drivers swerve to avoid it.

"It adds to the equation," Powell says. "Someone has to hold onto this animal, and it will use one more of our personnel that could be helping you or someone else in the accident. We may have to take someone off his task, and that's a huge thing."

PetSmart sells travel harnesses priced from $30 to $40, carrier tethers at $30, and seat leashes from $20 to $23, all of which attach to seat belts. Snider warns that seat leashes must never be attached to a collar, or to light-duty harnesses meant for walking.

"I would use the harnesses made for that purpose," he says. "They have the correct, really wide straps that even out the pressure in case of an accident, to avoid internal injuries."

Pet stores also sell barriers, but Selter only recommends those made specifically for each vehicle, not "one-size-fits-all" aftermarket models.

"We haven't tested all of them, but we haven't found one yet that holds," she says. "You can push on most barriers and pop them out with just the strength of your hands. Some attach to the assist handle over the door, but those handles are not tested or proven to hold that type of weight or pressure. Velcro or suction cups won't hold a 60-pound dog."

Even with an approved barrier, Selter says to use a harness. "The barrier keeps him from flying through the car, but a firefighter may open that hatch in a collision. They jump out and run, and that's when they get hit by another car."

Always consider the worst-case scenario. A dog tethered in a pickup bed could jump out and suffer serious road rash if its leash is too long, or be killed if the truck rolls. In hot weather, a dog risks hyperthermia, even if the windows are cracked open – or could become territorial if someone sticks a hand in to pet it.

Toronto Star