Keeping your pet passenger safe
There are 7.7 million dogs in Canada, so imagine how many are travelling in cars
When Ainsley Stapleton bought a car, she had one big requirement: it had to fit three crates for her two dogs and one cat.
“For me, it’s just a nobrainer. I have seen — and I actually have tried in the past — different harnesses and car seats. But, you know, even the ones that strap in, they can still move, things can unclip, things can break,” she said.
Stapleton is the owner of Universal Canine, a dog obedience and agility school in East Hants, N.S. She has two dogs, both papillons, named Ollie and Maisie, so she’s spent time learning about vehicle safety.
“There’s definitely a lot of missing information and misinformation,” she says. “You know, we put so much thought and safety into keeping our children safe in the car, and even adults safe in the car, but our animals are loose.”
“There’s a lot of appliances that say they’re for one thing, but they’ve never actually been tested.” Chris Blonde
WHY CAR SAFETY IS IMPORTANT FOR PETS
The Canadian Animal Health Institute, a trade association made up of manufacturers of animal medication, estimates that as of February 2021, there were about 7.7 million dogs in Canada. It’s safe to assume that many of those dogs regularly ride in cars — and some of those cars get into accidents.
While it’s legal to let your dog jump in the backseat and look out the window, there are reasons you may want to keep your dog buckled in or restrained.
The first reason is, of course, to protect your dog in a car accident. But what if Fido sees a squirrel and can’t resist the urge to jump out the window and chase after it? Your pooch could become seriously injured.
There’s also the danger that your dog could cause serious injury to others if it’s thrown around within a car if an accident occurs. According to some estimates, a small 10pound dog can generate over 500 pounds of force - and a bigger dog would generate far more - which would be extremely dangerous for all dogs and humans involved.
Driver focus is another key reason to strap in your canine. In many provinces, you could be fined for distracted driving if an accident happens because you were distracted by your dog.
There are a few things that are explicit under the Animal Protection Act in Nova Scotia: you cannot leave dogs in hot (or cold) cars, you cannot put them in the trunk, and you cannot let them ride in the back of a pickup truck (unless in a properly sized crate that is secured).
Still, the law for dogs in cars is unclear and differs between provinces with no strict regulations on whether or not your dog needs a seat belt, just like other passengers in the car.
HOW TO KEEP THEM SAFE
There are a number of products on the market to keep dogs safe in the car. The most popular are harnesses designed to distribute force in the event of a collision. Usually, the car’s seat belt is able to weave through the harness, or they are attached with a
tether that clicks into the seat belt buckle.
There are also dog car seats and travel crates, such as the ones Stapleton prefers to use for her own dogs.
Chris Blonde is the manager of the Metro Animal Emergency
Clinic in Dartmouth. The clinic has no statistics on how many dogs are injured in car accidents as passengers, but he says they have seen cases of dogs falling out of moving cars.
While he does agree that restraints are a good idea, he is hesitant to say what kind of protection works the best.
“There’s a lot of appliances that say they’re for one thing, but they’ve never actually been
tested,” Blonde says.
That’s because dog safety products are unregulated in Canada. Since Transport Canada does not do crash testing for pets, the best source for information is an American non-profit called the Center for Pet Safety. Most of the harnesses and crates they tested failed and sent the dummy dog forward, either into the seat in front of them or through the windshield of a car.
The crates Stapleton uses are approved by the Center for Pet Safety, but even so, she adds extra protection.
“My dogs are so small, we get the smallest crate possible and then we put a lot of extra padding in there. So, if something were to happen, they can’t jostle around in there to get injured,” she said.
Stapleton recommends crates, which she feels is the most secure way to transport her pets. She worries about pets involved in accidents who aren’t contained in crates, and the impact it could have on their body.
“Even if they’re totally secure in a harness and the harness doesn’t fail, they could be easily crushed by anything,” she says.
There are other options if a crate doesn’t work for your pets. For example, some owners prefer car seats for smaller dogs. They can work well, provided they are safely secured in the car and the dog is also safely secured within the car seat, similar to a child in a car seat. As a bonus, they also provide a way for small dogs to look out the window.
Barriers, such as a net between the front and back seats, can keep your dog in the back seat but won’t secure your dog, leaving them unprotected in the event of an accident. They are useful if your dog has a habit of trying to climb into the front seat or into your lap while you are driving.
Stapleton hopes more pet owners look into ways to make sure their dogs are safe when riding in a car, but in the end, each situation will be different and depend on the dog, the vehicle, and the owner’s requirements. Without any regulations or specific laws to guide decisions, it’s up to pet owners to do the research and make an informed decision on the best solution.