# Buckle up your pets or pay the fine



## dogsnkiddos (Jul 22, 2008)

New Jersey Leads the Way with "Pet Buckle Up Laws" | Petside

NJ passes laws for $250-$1000 fines for unrestrained pets (cats and dogs)


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

great so even if they are buckled in, they still cant enjoy sticking their head out?! Guess i'll be spending money on seat belt harnesses before I got up the to visit a couple friends. Glad my current two dont stick their heads out.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

BS. If they don't allow for crating, it's just idiocy. Seatbelts are nowhere near as safe as a crate, if you must take your pet and don't want to use a seatbelt/buckle/harness whatever.


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## dogsnkiddos (Jul 22, 2008)

You have to buckle the crate I believe....???? My parents aren't sure what to do as crates for greyhounds are too large to buckle...and greys won't be comfy "sitting" for a long stretch. They usually travel in crates in the back of the suv. 

Our dogs have always worn seatbelts as they like to sit between the kids


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I think it's already a law in PA that the pets have to be contained. Not sure about seatbelts being specified. 

DnK - Can't your parents tie the crates down in the back? I have 4 places in the back I can tie something down in my RAV4


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

I skimmed the article and it just says that the pet must be secured. I didn't see it mention that they need be in an approved car saftey harness. I'm guessing just tying a leash to a seatbelt would work for this purpose.

I'm sure this will be like other laws that are introduced that are not enforced unless something happens, or they are looking for reasons to fine someone. The child bike helment law here comes to my mind.

By the way, I agree with this law. Having a pet sit on your lap while driving is distracting. I've seen that often enough.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

They better allow for crating. It wouldnt make sense not to since the animal(s) are secure in the crate. I think the point is they dont want lose animals that could become projectiles. Obviously larger crates for the dogs we have arent exactly gonna go flying but for those with yip yaps and/or cats, the smaller crates need to be secure. 

I'm actually not thrilled with this because I was planning to visit friends up there and my dogs lay down in the car. They hop right up in the 3rd row seat in my van or plop down on the floor and wedge themselves under a seat and thats it. I understand the safety aspects of it but i dont like it because it punishes those with good dogs who are calm in the vehicle and its punishes good drivers. Shasta is my shotgun riding partner and according to that, even if she's secure, she still cant be up front with me. Neither of my two stick their heads out the window for any length of time either. Only time their heads go near the window is when we're stopped at a light or doing less than 15mph. 

if i had a truck they'd be riding in the bed but I'd also have a topper on it too.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

We tend to "haul" dogs in pickup with canopy. They are crated in the back as a rule, depending on the dog (Libby often rides loose in the back with the canopy on it).
But on personal trips to town, if we bring a dog, they are loose in the back seat. We don't let them up on the driver's lap no matter what, although they may sit on my lap when I'm the passenger.
I have no issue necessarily with restraining but if the point of bringing the dog is to let it have fun, sitting all tied down isn't much fun for them. I've done it, mostly when we go to places like Seattle. They don't care much for it


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

msvette2u said:


> BS. If they don't allow for crating, it's just idiocy. *Seatbelts are nowhere near as safe as a crate*, if you must take your pet and don't want to use a seatbelt/buckle/harness whatever.


Have any sources to back up that claim?


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

I have seen this debate before crate vs harness for the car as far as safety with accidents.

Right now we use the Champion safety harness, I drive a car. I may upgrade to a SUV and use a crate it would be alot easier when we travel & go to training.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

This is a pretty important part of the article...



> *"You wouldn't put your child in the car unrestrained so you shouldn't put your pet in the car unrestrained either," said Col. Rizzo. *"*What people come to realize only too late is that [COLOR=#006400 !important][COLOR=#006400 !important]animals[/COLOR][/COLOR] act like flying missiles in an impact and can not only hurt themselves but hurt their human family members too.*"


The article doesn't give specifics on how to restrain the animal. Is there a reference saying that crates can't be used? It just says the animal can't be loose in the car.

I don't know about anyone else but I don't want my 70# dog hitting me in the back of the head in a 55 mph crash (or 75 mph if it's me driving)


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

I plan on purchasing a seat belt harness thing soon. I have a crate in the back of my SUV but had a horrible dream that I was rear ended and Aiden was killed instantly. He's in the crate during training, but when we're on the road I think I'll be using a safety harness from now on.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

This wouldn't be so bad if seatbelts for pets that actually hold up to a crash were sold in petstores. It took months for my survivor seatbelt to come in the mail. All they sell in petstores here are those restraint harnesses which snap if you even brake too hard. They are very misleading. They are only meant to stop animals from jumping around the car, they won't do anything in an accident. You can still be killed by the animal which defeats the purpose of the law.

Before they start making laws like that, maybe they should check to make sure that car safety systems for animals are actually widely available.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

Syaoransbear said:


> This wouldn't be so bad if seatbelts for pets that actually hold up to a crash were sold in petstores. It took months for my survivor seatbelt to come in the mail. All they sell in petstores here are those restraint harnesses which snap if you even brake too hard. They are very misleading. They are only meant to stop animals from jumping around the car, they won't do anything in an accident. You can still be killed by the animal which defeats the purpose of the law.
> 
> Before they start making laws like that, maybe they should check to make sure that car safety systems for animals are actually widely available.


 
I agree. Maybe with this law they will be more available.

I'd like to order the Champion one, but it's in the US and people have complained about slow service from within their own country. I couldn't image how long I would wait for a shipment to Canada.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> Before they start making laws like that, maybe they should check to make sure that car safety systems for animals are actually widely available.


YES!! This is my complaint too although I didn't specify it well (habit of mine - was thinking it, though!)
Which is why I say, if there's a law that says they can't be loose, then at least allow for crates which, at this moment, are safer as a rule, than any harness which they can fly right out of, I've seen it in crash tests on youtube!
Search for some of those vids. Seat belts/harnesses for dogs in care use are almost more dangerous in some ways! The dog likely won't survive the crash due to the way they are flung about during a crash.
However, many many dogs have survived crashes if placed in a travel crate, even when the passengers die in the crash.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Syaoransbear said:


> This wouldn't be so bad if seatbelts for pets that actually hold up to a crash were sold in petstores. It took months for my survivor seatbelt to come in the mail. All they sell in petstores here are those restraint harnesses which snap if you even brake too hard. They are very misleading. They are only meant to stop animals from jumping around the car, they won't do anything in an accident. You can still be killed by the animal which defeats the purpose of the law.
> 
> Before they start making laws like that, maybe they should check to make sure that car safety systems for animals are actually widely available.


 
the problem is they dont know that. All they know is they want the animals secure. Even if it means a cheapo POS harness so the animal cant be jumping around. 

I agree with it only on the point I cant stand the drivers who let their little lap dogs in their lap while driving. Its like texting and driving. Dont freaking do it!


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I think either a harness or crate is fine as long as it's secured properly. I think it's a good step to make it law for both the pet and human's safety

Personally I like the seatbelt harness, it's quick and easy and totally portable so I don't have to worry if I'm switching cars about lugging a crate with me.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

New Fines In Place For Cats And Dogs That Don’t Buckle Up In New Jersey CBS Philly

another article on it. Short and "sweet". This one says basically only the smaller crates need to be buckled down so the larger crates should be okay as long as they cant fly through the cabin.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

For me having pets free in the vehicle is not a distraction issue but a projectile issue. Those pets have NO way of being restrained in an accident or quick stop. I nearly lost my Kenya through the windshield once when someone cut me off on a 50mph road but a barrier blocked her. Also if you have a dog on your lap up front, what happens when your airbag deploys? It would injure or kill the dog and maybe the person because it won't work right. Crate or car harness - at the very least the dog is "safe" from becoming a high speed projectile that could very easy kill a passenger.

I'm a firm believer in crates but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are any safer than a car harness. I don't really see a crate as safer than the harness because the tensile strength of most crates including my own is absolutely not going to withstand any sort of crash, plus there is nothing to prevent the internal damage that happens when a person or dog's brain collides with their own skull. That is why even a human passenger properly buckles himself and the airbag deploys correctly can die of a "head injury". Neither harness nor crate can prevent this. 

I personally use a crate for three main reasons: 1) where I train it's required (dog must be safely restrained inside the vehicle when not working), 2) it affords adequate ventilation - I can open my doors, hatch, roll down windows and never worry about my dogs jumping out, plus I have shade screens and such that I can use to cover parts of the crates, and 3) it provides security - same as above, I can leave windows down but lock my crates and the dog can't be stolen. I can stack a lot of gear on top of my crates while in transit but can't stack anything on top of a dog just sitting here. I rarely travel with less than two dogs and sometimes up to five dogs that would all have a great time chewing each other free of their harnesses! In a crate, the dogs' chews and toys can't roll out of reach and they all have a water pail clipped inside their doors. For the two crates in the rear of the van, there's a hitch/hitch receiver that gives a little extra protection if I'm rear-ended.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Friends of mine hit a car that ran a red light. She was thrown through the windshield (not wearing a seatbelt) and nearly killed. He was pretty badly injured. The dogs which were in the back of their van in crates were uninjured other than some bruises. The crates were in bad shape, but they saved the dogs' lives.


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

I hate watching cars go by that have the little dogs on the drivers lap hanging out the window... Besides the fact they can fall out the window, the driver is so busy keeping the little dog inside on the lap they don't pay attention to the road.
Had friends comeing back from a dog show. Dogs were in crates in the truck shell, pulling a trailer. Another car hit them, caused the truck and trailer to roll. Truck and trailer were totalled, dogs where thrown clear in the crates and were just fine. People were sore but okay, they had seatbelts on.
Around here its not uncommon to see trucks coming with hay stacked level with the cab of the truck and the farm dog running around on top of the hay and truck. 
Then of course they bring them into the clinic after they have fallen off the hay/cab and not only injured from the fall, then run over by vehicles behind them... Wish there was a law for that and riding loose in open truck beds. Such nasty injuries from falls and being run over.


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## Olivers mama (Oct 13, 2010)

dogsnkiddos said:


> ... greyhounds are too large to buckle...and greys won't be comfy "sitting" for a long stretch.


Comfy I understand, but being too big to buckle? good Lord, I've seen Danes buckled in...

Regardless - I get "it" with those barking slippers on the driver's lap, or sticking half the body outside the window...but can't even stick their head out?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Ja know, ya'all won't like this, but I do leave the dogs in the car during training and during shows. With the back open and the windows down, parked in the shade it is safe enough. If it is too hot to do this, I don't go. But we have shows in december and April, and training all the time, and sometimes, yupp the dog will be unsupervised in the vehicle. (especially the coffee hour after training class at the intsructor's home.

I use crates. Yes, I feel secure with the dog crated. But I have tried the seat belt thing once or twice and one of my dogs darn near strangled herself in her attempts to get out of the seat belt and it was a good thing I wasn't gone for my usual 45 minutes. 

Glad I do not live in NJ or the other states that have such a law though. My Honda cannot fit a crate (thus the seat belt), and well, if I have the Honda at home and I have an emergency, like getting the girl to the vet NOW with a stuck puppy, I am not screwing around with a harness. She goes in the back seat and to the vet we go. If she becomes a projectile in an accident, well, stuff does happen, and sometimes it isn't pretty. But I would put a dog in the back of a pick up if that was the only way to get the dog to where he could get the help he needed. Definitely an emergency situation. 

I can foresee having to move my dogs a couple of miles to get to my SUV to go somewhere. Normally I would take the SUV the day before and it would not be an issue. But sometimes I am not working at 100% when I am deciding which vehicle I will need the next day, so I can see it happening that the dog will ride in the back seat of the Honda until I can collect the Explorer. I have all sorts of things in my Explorer that are potential projectiles. We do not tie down the dog food, or the wood, or the 100 other objects hauled on a regular basis. 

I don't know, I guess it is a silly thing to make a law for. I get a bit of a nerve twitching when the add law after law after law. Did they go with just dogs, or is it any pet, like snakes, or gerbils, or cats, or tarantulas? I think that would be really cool to see a tarantula seat belt.


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I hope something like this is enforced in South Carolina. It seems like around here at least a lot of people have their dogs in their trucks beds or in the front seat of their cars. Usually the cars are convertibles.I don't know if it's and ego thing or if they honestly don't know. It could be a little bit of both. 

I think one of scariest things I saw was a dog (GSD coincidentally) who was literally running from side to side of the truck bed and even hung off the side to bark at the cars going past. This was in rush hour traffic.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

Olivers mama said:


> Comfy I understand, but being too big to buckle? good Lord, I've seen Danes buckled in...
> 
> Regardless - I get "it" with those barking slippers on the driver's lap, or sticking half the body outside the window...but can't even stick their head out?


I wonder if maybe the chest of a greyhound is too large for most seatbelts? Even my german shepherd is on the maximum size of the survivor belt because his chest is so deep. I have to really watch his weight because if he gains a few extra pounds the darn thing doesn't fit.

Then again great danes have huge chests as well. I wonder what kind of seatbelts they are using?


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## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

well just another way to make money in the lovely garden state! my lexie lays down in the back seat of my tundra and i do slide the middle window in the back open (wind is not in her face) she love that, _im so tired of people telling me what i can and cannot do, tired of it !!!!!!! now when you take your car to inspection and you fail, they put the fail sticker on with no extention, so when you pull out of the inspection station you can get pulled over and recieve a ticket from the police, ugh, im so lucky to live in nj _


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> well just another way to make money in the lovely garden state! my lexie lays down in the back seat of my tundra and i do slide the middle window in the back open (wind is not in her face) she love that,_*im so tired of people telling me what i can and cannot do, tired of it* !!!!!!! now when you take your car to inspection and you fail, they put the fail sticker on with no extention, so when you pull out of the inspection station you can get pulled over and recieve a ticket from the police, ugh, im so lucky to live in nj _


 
AGREE 100%. 

sidenote: inspections are another reason i love colorado! no freaking emissions inspections!


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## Anastasia (Oct 7, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> well just another way to make money in the lovely garden state! my lexie lays down in the back seat of my tundra and i do slide the middle window in the back open (wind is not in her face) she love that, _im so tired of people telling me what i can and cannot do, tired of it !!!!!!! now when you take your car to inspection and you fail, they put the fail sticker on with no extention, so when you pull out of the inspection station you can get pulled over and recieve a ticket from the police, ugh, im so lucky to live in nj _


I agree, there is no end to the ridiculous laws that they come up with in this state!


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> well just another way to make money in the lovely garden state! my lexie lays down in the back seat of my tundra and i do slide the middle window in the back open (wind is not in her face) she love that, _im so tired of people telling me what i can and cannot do, tired of it !!!!!!! now when you take your car to inspection and you fail, they put the fail sticker on with no extention, so when you pull out of the inspection station you can get pulled over and recieve a ticket from the police, ugh, im so lucky to live in nj _


I agree.... which is why I stayed in the south.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Leno just joked about this....blamed it on Romney!


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

onyx'girl said:


> Leno just joked about this....blamed it on Romney!


In light of the upcoming elections, please remember the rules about politics. If you say something that could be construed as a dig on the republican candidate, and no one does anything, others will put their digs in, and the other side will dig your guy, and then they will get a warning and feel like the site is slanted one way.


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## Olivers mama (Oct 13, 2010)

But Romney had an Irish Setter & I KNOW they can be buckled in - mine used to ride in the passenger seat, buckled up with the top down, his hat & sunglasses (long before doggles) & his ears blowing in the breeze. Actually was a beautiful site --- Big Red Dog in Little Green MGC. (BTW - this isn't political - just stating the facts)

However, I have a question about the tarantula seatbelt --- which legs get restrained? 

(Just realized how much I miss that dog - he was a breeze to train compared to my GSD...)


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