Let's Start The Year Off Right!

Well my friends, I might be a day late, but I still think that this is an incredibly important reminder to all us pups, kittens, and humans!

January 2nd was the official National Pet Travel Safety Day!

Now, unfortunately the auto safety industry doesn't keep records on how many pets are injured or killed in car accidents in each year...but I'm pretty sure that that number is higher than we like to think! :-( Which is why educating all our pet parents is incredibly important!!

I'm sure that we've all seen dogs doing this...

:-/ Hm...do we think that this is the safest way to travel? That's correct - Nope!!!

As the pups over at Go Pet Friendly say, if You wear a seat belt and your Kids wear a seat belt, then why on earth wouldn't you put your pup or kitten in a seat belt/restraint?? That's a great question!!

Luckily we have humans standing up for us! First off, in 2011, AAA in partnership with Kurgo, asked their readers to complete a pet safety survey. Here we discovered that only 16% of respondents stated that they used any kind of pet restraint at all (uh oh!), 17% stated that they allowed their pups to sit on their laps while driving, and 3% took photos of their pets while driving (OMD, don't do that!!)!!!

Just to let you know: “An unrestrained 10-pound dog in a crash at only 30 mph will exert roughly 300 pounds of pressure, while an unrestrained 80-pound dog in a crash at only 30 mph will exert approximately 2,400 pounds of pressure. Imagine the devastation that can cause to your pet and anyone in its path (via Jennifer Huebner-Davidson, AAA National, Traffic Safety Programs manager)!" Those are some scary facts, huh?!

Due to these survey results, AAA created a booklet called Traveling with Your Pet: The AAA PetBook that gives pet parents lots of great tips and information for traveling! They also provided discounts for all Kurgo safety products and for Target products as well!

Six states (Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island) have now enacted pet car safety laws too, with New Jersey having one of the most strict laws!

So...what to do...

hm, try again...

Hahaha, omd, that poor thing!! NO!!!

As much as most of us hate the idea, we all need to be in restraints! :-/ Which means: chilling in a crate, using a doggie safety belt, or sitting in a doggie car seat! There's tons of options out there, so finding one that suits both you and your parent shouldn't be a terrible experience! Now, not all safety restraints are created equally, meaning that some are safer than others...but if you do your research and watch those awful crash safety films, you should be able to decipher what works and is safe for you!

I personally use the RC Canine Friendly harness vest that has been independently crash tested and certified (for dogs up to 85 pounds) in Canada. Domeek and I were impressed with their facts and video, so we decided to get it! Thankfully we haven't been in a car accident since buying it, but we have been impressed when braking in all that Bay Area commute traffic! :-D

I also use the Snoozer large Lookout doggie car seat in conjunction with my safety harness! This is more of a comfort thing (at least for me) than a safety thing; but I do like to look out the window, so this allows me to safely sit my tush down and be a nosy puppy! ;-) As a reminder, if you want your pup or kitty to sit in the front seat, make sure that you can turn off your passenger airbags, as this can be even more dangerous in a car accident!!

My brothers all use crates to ride in the car, even though they would rather sit in my car seat!

There you go, as you can all see, there are tons of options for each and every puppy and kitten out there! For more travel product reviews, check out my friend Chloe at Dog Jaunt as she has seen and reviewed them all! ;-) I don't want you all to be worried when driving, but it's definitely worth the time and the effort to make sure that you are safe before starting that engine!

Thank goodness for animal days like this one, cause otherwise we would forget about the little things!

So, how do you travel in the car???