Creature feature
My dog Milton rides in the car with me, sometimes in the back seat in his carrier. Last week, a car in front of me stopped suddenly and I hit the brakes. Milton’s carrier slid off the back seat and fell on the floor. He wasn’t hurt, but he was pretty shook up. If I had been going any faster or if I had crashed into the car in front of me, it could have been horrible. Now I pull the seat belt around his crate ( medium size, plastic) and buckle it in. Is that enough?
Securing Milton in a crate when he’s in the car is a good start on keeping him safe. But, as you’ve discovered, the crate also needs to be securely anchored so that it isn’t thrown from the seat or tossed about the car if there’s an accident.
Containing a pet and keeping him from moving around in the car — under normal conditions and in an emergency — is essential to ensure the animal and driver’s safety, says Lindsey Wolko, founder of the nonprofit Center for Pet Safety in Reston, Va. Although attempting to anchor a crate with the seat belt might seem like a good idea, she says, the force of an impact during a crash can cause a crate to break free of the belt and fly toward the front seat.
Since 2011, Wolko and the Center for Pet Safety have partnered with automobile maker Subaru of America to conduct tests on pet travel products that manufacturers have labeled as having been crash- tested for safety. Wolko founded the group after a firsthand discovery of the fragility of a purportedly secure pet harness she’d used on her dog Maggie. One morning, she was driving in rush- hour traffic with Maggie in the back seat in her harness, which was attached to a
seat belt. Suddenly, a car cut in front of Wolko, forcing her to slam on her brakes.
“Maggie flew into the back of my seat, hogtied by the tether on the harness,” Wolko says. “All I heard was screaming.” Several weeks and thousands of dollars in veterinary bills later, Maggie recovered from the injuries to her hips and legs. The experience inspired Wolko to seek out a product that would keep Maggie and her other dogs safe in the car. After what she says was a fruitless search, she decided to create an organization devoted to crash- testing pet travel harnesses, crates and carriers.
The center’s testing team includes Subaru as well as volunteer engineers with experience in automobile safety research. They use “weighted simulants,” what you might call canine crash- test dummies. Weight in each dummy is distributed as it would be in a real dog, Wolko says. The dummies also look like dogs, which can be a bit disturbing when watching videos of the center’s product testing that are posted on the organization’s website ( centerforpetsafety.org).
This year, the center put a number of top- rated crates and carriers to the test to determine their structural integrity and “crashworthiness.” They examined four top- rated products that carried a manufacturer’s claim of offering “crash protection” as well as four “value” crates with no such claims.
The Gunner Kennel GI Intermediate ranked highest, according to the results on the website. During the simulated crash, the crate’s anchor straps held firmly, plus the crate remained closed and didn’t hit the front seatback. The crash- test dog stayed in the kennel.
A second crate, the 4Pets Proline, didn’t fare as well. During the test, its connection straps broke, releasing the crate. The rear panel of the crate was destroyed and the test dummy protruded from the case. The crate also moved completely off the seat. The third and fourth crates lost their moorings, but their test dogs stayed inside the crates. The “value” or less expensive crates performed poorly overall.
Wolko and the center recommend the Gunner crate ( gunnerkennels.com) for owners who want the most security for their pets. But safety isn’t cheap; prices for the crate start at $ 500. In the harness category, the center recommends the Sleepypod Clickit Sport ( sleepypod. com), which passed inspection and testing for safety. The harness, which costs under $ 100, is available in sizes for dogs weighing up to 90 pounds.
Small dogs and cats that weigh under 15 pounds should always travel in a crate or carrier, Wolko says. “Because they are so fragile and have small frames, we don’t recommend harnesses for them.” The center has researched and approved the Sleepypod carrier ($ 139-$ 179).
Wolko says the center plans to test as many products as possible and continue posting ratings on its website. Approved products will carry a Center for Pet Safety label. To watch videos or get more information, go to centerforpetsafety.org or call ( 800) 324- 3659.