Santa Fe ponders pet seat belts

[emad]

From BBC News:

Pet owners in the US city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, may soon be required to provide seat belts for pets if the city council approves new rules. Under the proposed regulations, animals travelling in the open beds of cars and trucks would have to be tethered. "Just like people need to be safe, so do animals," Kate Rindy of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter told Reuters.

Ms Rindy said dogs and cats could be fitted with seat belts or travel in portable pet carriers. Pet shops already stock such devices, Associated Press found - though they say they don't sell many. A "pet safety sitter" (up to $21) has a strap that goes across a dog's chest. A "pick-up tie-out" attaches to a collar so dogs cannot jump out of the back of a truck. Also on sale are small booster seats - which allow a dog to see out of the window, while preventing it from jumping around.

The proposals also include rules on pet neutering and leashing dogs and cats when on public property. The city council will vote on them within the month, Ms Rindy said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3570111.stm

Ever tried to harness a Rotweiller or an Irish Wolfhound into a safety seat?ed to tell the tale???

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Just another desperate way for some desperate city to collect money

I understand there is a safety issue here that should be addressed somehow, but issuing every form of ridiculous citation under the sun is probably not the best way to go. I dunno, maybe I'm way wrong on this one, but to me it sounds just plain ridiculous to put forth such a bill.

[radwriter0555]

2. uh no offense, but LA County has ALWAYS required that dogs be secured

in the open beds of trucks.

BUT the idea of securing them in a car is indeed a good one.

[Systematic Chaos]

3. No offense taken.

All I'm saying is that pet owners ought to have enough sense to keep their pets secure while in a moving vehicle, without giving local law enforcement yet another distraction from the issues that matter most.

[havocmom]

6. when a large dog gets bumped out of the bed of a pickup on LA freeway

it is NOT just a matter for the dog's owner to deal with. It puts lives of others in danger also from the ensuing vehicular mayhem. I know. I saw it happen. More than a lovely German shepherd got hurt that day.

[FlaGranny]

4. My pup has always ridden in the car with a seat belt.

Dogs don't mind. Not only does it help protect the dog, it protects the driver and other drivers on the road, because it prevents the dog from jumping around in the car. Florida, I believe, already has a law that dogs must be tethered when they are in the backs of pickup trucks, but many ignore it. Have you ever seen a dog jump from the back of a truck and run into traffic? Doggy seat belts just make sense to me - something you use if you care.

If someone has a big dog like a Rotty or a Pit Bull and it WON'T let you put on a harness, you have problems of another sort - that dog thinks he's boss instead of you. In that case you are not in control and that's dangerous, in the car or outside the car.

Laws should not have to be made about such things, though.

[sistersofmercy]

5. God, I love Santa Fe, the people there are just amazing!

[Piperay]

7. Good idea

my dog uses a harnass that attaches to the seat belt. Sure, he didn't care for it at first because he couldn't run back and forth from side to side in the back seat but he got used to it and is much safer now.

[Bandit]

8. That is already law in the community I live.

Any animal in the back of a pick-em-up must be tethered for more reasons than just the animals safety. It is also for the safety of pedestrians who may venture to close to the vehicle and the animal becoming too protective and actually biting the person.

[Name removed]

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