Hitting The Road With Your Pooch? Don’t Forget To Bring This...

Published on July 09, 2018 12:00 AM in Safe Driving, Seasonal Driving & Travel

Our canine companions are precious cargo, and should always be secured inside the vehicle whenever you take them along for a ride.

That’s the message from Nancy Shadlow of Gen 7, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company specializing in pet travel and safety accessories.

“Most people don’t secure their pet in their vehicle,” said Nancy Shadlow of Gen 7, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company specializing in pet accessories. “It’s not because they don’t love their dog, they just don’t think about it.”

Shadlow urges pet owners to look for products that are crash tested and verified through a third-party.

When picking out a safety harness for your dog, Leslie Wolko, CEO Center for Pet Safety, offered the following advice:

Speak with the manufacturer and find out the weight rating in harness tests.
Inspect products thoroughly. Your pet’s safety depends on the quality of straps, connectors, how products were tested and size of your pet.
Look beyond product hype. There is no universal safety standard for pet harnesses and most travel products are not crash tested.
Find out if harness connectors have been tested (buckles, clasps, buttons).

“None of us would get in a car without buckling our seatbelts,” Shadlow said. “Everyone needs a secure spot in the car. Even our coffee has its own secure spot.”