Most people know that they either click it or ticket, but should the failure to buckle up your pets lead to a fine as large as $1,000? That's the question facing New Jersey, where a mandatory pet seat belt bill has been proposed:
Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer, a Newark Democrat who owns a Pomeranian named A.J. along with five cats and a rabbit, has introduced a bill to require motorists to secure dogs and felines with a seatbelt-like harness if they’re not being transported in crates. Violators would get a $25 ticket that might escalate to an animal-cruelty charge with a fine of as much as $1,000 in extreme cases, such as having an unrestrained pet in the bed of a pickup.
Not everyone agrees, however:
Her proposal riles Assemblyman Jay Webber, a Morris Plains Republican who calls the bill “busybody government at its best.” Webber, whose family when he was a child had a Lhasa apso, introduced a measure to clarify that failure to restrain an animal isn’t equivalent to inhumane treatment. He also said New Jersey is grappling with bigger issues, including a budget deficit and a stagnant economy.
Bloomberg has the story: Link
For those of us who love dogs, it's terrifying to watch. I can not drive behind such careless dog owners.
I will say that, after the incident, if I told him to lie down, he dropped like a stone and stayed down.
As long as the dog rides reasonably safe and comfortable - as in the back of a station wagon, behind the seatbelt, with or without a cage - and not slamming around on the bed of a pickup, I don't see a big problem. It's not certain that a seatbelt would be better for the dog than in the back of the car.
But if you want your dog to ride shotgun or in the backseat, then a seatbelt might be in place.
I have a Shetland sheepdog (the Scottish one, a medium sized dog), and he uses a special seatbelt that anchors in the regular buckle of the backseat on one end, and to his harness on the other. I find it extremely useful, as people here are not renowned for their magnificent driving skills or education, when I have to hit the brakes a bit hard. He is comfortable with it, and I can be sure that he will not hit the back of the seat, or worse, suddenly appear over the dashboard, getting hurt.