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WildBill wrote:

barstoolguru wrote:puma guy wrote:LEO's have more than enough to do already without having to be on the lookout for unrestrained pets in vehicles. It will go unenforced for the most part, which, in my book makes it idiotic.

and to think I though they got paid to enforce the law.

I just love to pay taxes so that we can pay LEOs to enforce idiotic laws.

There are plenty of them in here in Texas........ For instance it's illegal to have a sign that says "Ice Cold Beer". How often do you think that one is enforced. Uh! Oh! I hijacked my own thread.

I always amuses me to see a post go sideways from the original subject. I posted about a law passed to protect dogs and it has digressed to quoting questionable data about distracted drivers and the causes. No where in the law that I read did it mentioned drivers being distracted. Statistics in my viewpoint are mostly worthless anyway, since I can prove that eating pickles is statistically fatal. i.e. 100% of Civil War veterans that ate pickles have died. Probably goes for WWI vets as well and there's no telling how many drivers killed in car wrecks ate pickles prior to their demise.
LEO's have more than enough to do already without having to be on the lookout for unrestrained pets in vehicles. It will go unenforced for the most part, which, in my book makes it idiotic.

barstoolguru wrote:

puma guy wrote:

barstoolguru wrote:

puma guy wrote:

barstoolguru wrote:
thats a lot of road pizzathats 99,999 more then the 1 thats someone claimsl

Before you start quoting me please get the facts correct. I never said anything about dogs falling out of trucks in my anecdote. The dog I referenced was injured in a car wreck as stated in the story. I still don't see the data you are quoting for 100,000 dogs dying as a result of falling out of a vehicle, truck or otherwise. I did read the blog on the Parade story which quoted Humane Society information about 100,000. I don't know if those are the same "facts" you refer to from Edmunds.

While they don't let them fall out of trucks ask the Humane Society how many animals they euthanize a year nationally. Years and years ago there was a real Humane Society in Houston. I know because I spent many hours helping my dad perform pro bono services for them. The gentleman that ran it (a retired attorney) would never have an animal put down unless it couldn't be saved and that was precious few. As Forrest Gump says. That's all I have to say 'bout that!

So your saying it’s OK for dogs to get killed because the will be put down? The fact is god never intended for every animal to live. Out of a litter of 8; 6 of them would be part of the food chain in the wild. Sorry but a dog falling out of a truck is an accident. All I am saying is it’s a good thing to strap a dog in wither it be in the vehicle or out. People don't like to be regulated but when that animal is subjected to someone’s poor judgment maybe someone needs to step in

I guess I'll contradict ol' Forrest's saying. I in no way inferred nor stated it was OK to let dogs get killed because they will be put down. A dog falling out of a truck is not an accident. It is a predictable outcome, though the odds for it happening are far beyond my ability to calculate.

barstoolguru wrote:

puma guy wrote:

barstoolguru wrote:
thats a lot of road pizzathats 99,999 more then the 1 thats someone claimsl

Before you start quoting me please get the facts correct. I never said anything about dogs falling out of trucks in my anecdote. The dog I referenced was injured in a car wreck as stated in the story. I still don't see the data you are quoting for 100,000 dogs dying as a result of falling out of a vehicle, truck or otherwise. I did read the blog on the Parade story which quoted Humane Society information about 100,000. I don't know if those are the same "facts" you refer to from Edmunds.

While they don't let them fall out of trucks ask the Humane Society how many animals they euthanize a year nationally. Years and years ago there was a real Humane Society in Houston. I know because I spent many hours helping my dad perform pro bono services for them. The gentleman that ran it (a retired attorney) would never have an animal put down unless it couldn't be saved and that was precious few. As Forrest Gump says. That's all I have to say 'bout that!

barstoolguru wrote: For the people that drive around with a dog in the back of the truck. The man says I only seen one brought in to the vets office… well yea the rest were road pizza. They usually don’t make it and when they do fall out it makes a heck of a road bump and the people behind him are the ones that have to swerve to avoid the animal and that puts them in danger

Unless you have data to support the claim that they all end up as road pizza I seriously doubt that happens to all but the one that was brought into the vet. In the first place animals have a much different physiology than humans. Weight to bone strength and having four legs give them the abilty to absorb shock much greater than us. Also, weighing less the impact is not as dramatic. Cats survive falls from 30 story buildings. My point is that animals survive trauma you and I might succumb to were circumstances purportionally equal. I wonder what the laws are for people riding in the back of a truck? (rhetorical - no need to answer)
Back to OP topic... the law is to protect the animal while riding, not keep idiots from letting their pet cause an accident. We'll need more laws to protect us from idiots. NJ and NYC will probably be the first to write one.

I actually understand the emotional aspect of this issue. No one wants to see an animal harmed while riding in a car including myself. I can offer some anecdotal statistics that shed some light on the chances of that happening. My father had a private veterinary practice for 71 years except for the four years of WWII while he was India with the US Army Veterinary Corp tending medical matters for mules and canine guard dogs among other things. I worked for him in my adolescent, teenage and even some post teenage years even though I had other full time jobs. I began helping him again when I retired in 2006 until his death in March 2011. He had by far the largest practice in our city for most of those years. He was also the oldest practicing vet in Texas and was officilly recognized and honored as such the year before his death. I say this because in all those years the number of dogs he treated as result of an injury received while riding in a vehicle was exactly 1. It was a pretty bad car wreck and the dog had a broken leg. Take it for whatever it's worth. Here's another stat that's very interesting. I worked with him in 1980 for four months while on strike and the most common canine injury encountered and treated in those four months was from attacks by pit bulls. The breed was just beginning to gain popularity, but even though they were a relatively small porportion of the breeds they wreaked pure havoc. We stitched up a couple of dogs a day and I will never forget how alarmed my dad was. Very often the owners displayed injuries from the attacks, but were more concerned with the care of the pets. Explains why some legislator would write a dog seat belt law, I guess. The other thing that happened that year was the beginning onslaught of Parvo-virus. It seemed all we treated was dog attacks and Parvo infected dogs.

Just saw on Fox News that New Jersey law could cost pet owners $250 for driving with dogs unrestrained (no seat belt ) I assume cats are coverd too but they do have retractable claws . Couldn't find a link but I'll keep looking.

Just found this.
http://www.game-dog.com/showthread.php?t=58770&page=1