[caption id="attachment_48921" align="alignleft" width="200"] Photo: Peggy Frezon[/caption]
Last week I had stopped at a roadside stand to pick up some vegetables when I heard a woman yell. She had stopped to shop as well and when she went to put her bags in the car, she realized that her two small Shih Tzu puppies had jumped on the arm rest of the door and locked her out. Believe it or not, they continued to jump and she was finally able to open the car door.
This is a much more common occurrence than you might think. Just last month country superstar, Carrie Underwood had to rescue her four-month-old son from her locked car because her dogs accidentally locked her out.
"When your dogs manage to lock themselves, all your stuff & the baby in the car & you have to break a window to get in. #WhatAreTheChances," Underwood tweeted about the terrifying experience.
Peggy Frezon, a pet columnist, dog blogger, and author of two books about losing weight and getting fit with dogs, writes in one of her blogs,"... I started thinking about what could happen in the event of an accident:
* If she was injured or frightened, she could distract rescue workers from getting to humans who needed help.
* During rescue attempts, she could escape out a window or open door and become lost.
* If she escaped post-accident, she might run into the road and get hit and/or cause another accident. "
So what can you do to be sure that you don't end up in this situation? In our August Pet Gazette, Braxton's featured an article,"Click It or Ticket" about states that are requiring pet owners to harness their pets.
Children are required to be restrained, so why not pets? More and more states believe that unrestrained animals in cars are a driving distraction and can be a danger. Restraining your pet could prevent scenarios like the ones above.
Let us know what you think. Do you drive with your pets unrestrained? Would you consider a harness? We are interested to hear your thoughts.