It’s road trip season! If your pooch is coming along for the adventure, you might want to look into a seat belt situation to keep your best bud safe.
Safety harnesses can protect dogs in the event of an automobile accident. An unsecured dog may sustain serious or deadly injuries if a car crashes or even brakes suddenly. Dogs should never ride in the front passenger’s seat, as they may be hurt by a deployed airbag or interfere with a driver’s concentration.
When selecting the seat belt harness that’s right for you, take the quality of the product into consideration. This is your pup’s life, after all.
Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Coates revealed that wearing certain harnesses is not much different than neglecting to wear one. There are many harnesses on the market, and careful consideration should be given to brand performance.
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In assessing which performed best, the Center for Pet Safety used several guidelines, including:
- Uniform brand performance (All tested sizes perform successfully)
- Does the dog stay on the seat during the crash test? (If not, the dog could hit a human or part of the car, causing serious injury.)
- Does the harness have a long tether? These are more dangerous for the reasons stated above.
The Center for Pet Safety conducted extensive testing on safety harnesses on the market, and shockingly, approved only one harness.
The Sleepypod Clickit Utility harness passed all quality requirements, and kept crash test doggies (no real dogs were used in testing!) secure during simulated crashes.
See the startling footage here: