re legal side of taking dog in car

Alfagtamini

hi all
we have a 4 month old golden retriever pup and we take her in the car with us alot. is there any legal guidelines saying how she has to be carried in the car or will anyway do:D

thanks
paul

WIZE

What type of Car have you got

toadfly

Most Haunted wrote: »

What type of Car have you got

whats that got to do with anything? :rolleyes:

anywho..we bring Tilly in the car every weekend too, we usually put her in her travel case (which she hates) we used to bring her in the front on my knee but she doesnt settle very well there now so she has to go in her case.

I dont know the legal side of it but I think they have to be "secured" somehow ie doggy seatbelt or travel case. Could be wrong on this though its all guess work!

WIZE

Its got a lot to do with if you put a Dog in the boot of a saloon car

Not a good Idea

Or a Hatchback where you can get http://www.discountramps.com/petImages/car-dog-barrier-1-lg.jpg

we used to bring her in the front on my knee

Thats just Dangerous for everyone

You could also get a Harness which attaches to your Seatbelts on the Back seats

http://z.about.com/d/dogs/1/0/t/-/-/-/mazie_seatbelt.jpg

I have not heard any laws about it but I suppose its just common sense

seamus

There's no legislation which specifies how you must carry a dog in a car. However if you were stopped with a dog running riot around your vehicle you could easily be done for all manner of road traffic offences, because that's just plain dangerous.

My dog loves the car and will happily sit on the front passenger seat looking out the window or curled up asleep. She would never try and climb onto the driver while the car is moving. For a while we didn't bother with belts and stuff, but if I hit something she'd be a goner, so I have a harness now which attaches to the seat belt and which doesn't bother her at all. It also stops her from jumping out as soon as the passenger door is opened.

When there are two of us in the car, we used to carry her in the footwell, but again any crash would kill her, so she's safer strapped in at the back.

The other thing you have to consider about having an unsecured dog in the vehicle is that in the event of a collision, a 10kg dog becomes a cannonball and you could end up with more dead than just your dog.

tk123

Our GR puppy (7 months today ) sits in the front seat when it's just the two of us - he has a harness that clips into the seat belt buckle thing. If I put him in the back on his own he cries and barks and it's too distracting - in the front he's happy to have the a/c blowing in his face while he looks out the window.

jippers87

Yes, there is a doggy-car law. Basically the same as a child ie MUST be secured with harness/seatbelt.

If you were stopped by a cop they COULD fine you.

We have a seatbelt attachment for our dog. One end clips onto her collar/harness and the other clicks into the seatbelt catch. Very cheap and a lot safer.

And for those of you who leave your dog loose in the car, think about it! One hard brake and your pooch is through the windscreen!

If you must travel without te dog being secured, the best place for him is on the floor infront of the front passenger seat.

Jip

jippers87 wrote: »

Yes, there is a doggy-car law. Basically the same as a child ie MUST be secured with harness/seatbelt.

If you were stopped by a cop they COULD fine you.

Link/proof ?

RosieJoe

By law you are required to have your dog restained when in the car, but there is no specification on how this needs to be done.

I have been stopped before by the Gardai but our 2 westies were attached to the seat belts in the back using shoulder harnesses that clip to them. He had no problem with that.

Alfagtamini

hi
thanks for all your help. she seems to like being down on the passenger footwell. and we have a saloon :-( ill take a trip to maxizoo and pick up a harness today and she can get used to being in the back

thanks alot

paul+ caroline oh and bailey aswell;)

seamus

RosieJoe wrote: »

By law you are required to have your dog restained when in the car, but there is no specification on how this needs to be done.

As Jip says, do you have a link to the relevant legislation?

spurious

jippers87 wrote: »

And for those of you who leave your dog loose in the car, think about it! One hard brake and your pooch is through the windscreen!

Or into the back of your head - not a place to get a smack of a hefty canine.

TooManyDogs

RosieJoe wrote: »

By law you are required to have your dog restained when in the car, but there is no specification on how this needs to be done.

I have been stopped before by the Gardai but our 2 westies were attached to the seat belts in the back using shoulder harnesses that clip to them. He had no problem with that.

I was stopped at a routine stop with 6 dogs unsecured but neither garda said anything, just commented on the fact I had 6 dogs and how did I manage them all, usual questions!

namurt

I found the quote below on the maxi zoo website after much googling for anything about the laws of transporting pets. They may just be trying to get people to buy items for transport but there must be some truth in it. Like a few people here I'm pretty sure they have to be secured but cant find proof of it anywhere!!!! I even thought it was one of the things you could get penalty points for....but again, it's not mentioned on the penalty points list. Maybe it was just a suggestion back when they were introdcing the system but it never actually got introduced.

"There are a variety of legal provisions for transporting dogs in cars, e.g., animals may not travel unsecured in the passenger area, otherwise you risk a fine.
Canines don’t belong on the front passenger seat and must be restrained with dog safety belts or sat in a secure transport box on the back seat. They are only allowed to travel in the boot of an estate car when there is a stable partition separating it from the passenger area. Transport boxes ensure greater safety in the boot too."

paultf

I don't know about it legally but safety wise it is necessary to secure your dog.

When my cocker was a pup I use to allow him to sit in the front seat. He use to like sitting on my lap.

One day I had my car full of nephews and nieces. The dog was in the back seat on the lap of one of the kids. Suddenly he jumped from the back seat onto my lap. I nearly crashed into the ditch. Very lucky.

After that I got a barrier for the boot of my hatchback. He is use to travelling in the boot now and its much safer.

Jip

namurt wrote: »

They are only allowed to travel in the boot of an estate car when there is a stable partition separating it from the passenger area.

Makes no sense to me, I read that as saying if there's no barrier between the boot and rear seat then don't put them in the boot, presumably they travel in the passenger compartment instead ??

seamus

namurt wrote: »

"There are a variety of legal provisions for transporting dogs in cars, e.g., animals may not travel unsecured in the passenger area, otherwise you risk a fine.
Canines don’t belong on the front passenger seat and must be restrained with dog safety belts or sat in a secure transport box on the back seat. They are only allowed to travel in the boot of an estate car when there is a stable partition separating it from the passenger area. Transport boxes ensure greater safety in the boot too."

I found no legal statutes to back this up.

The above is probably taken from UK law.

WIZE

Common sense its the best way forward in this case

LisaO

As previous posters have said, you need to consider the safety & comfort of both dog, driver & passengers.

I feel the best way to travel is for all occupants to be safely secured in their own space - whether via seat belts, harnesses, crates, etc.

I do know of a guy who was killed in a relatively minor road accident because his GSD was thrown forward from the boot space of his estate car & broke the guy's neck

supermum1

seamus wrote: »

There's no legislation which specifies how you must carry a dog in a car.

Though they have not fully brought the legislation in carrying an unrestrained dog in the car can carry heavy penalties, most garda take it seriously as they should because as seamus said if you were in an accident an unrestrained dog is as bad a an unrestrained person.

I use a harness with my guy and it works great, he doesn't feel restricted and we're all safe!!

Jip

supermum1 wrote: »

most garda take it seriously as they should

I doubt that as alot of gardai turn a blind eye to everyday road offences, I doubt anyone will get into trouble for having an unrestrained dog in the car.

supermum1

well I agree that there's a lot they ignore, but a good friend of mine is a garda and he told me it is being taken a lot more seriously than it has in the past. I think that regardless of legal repercussions people should be restraining there dogs, for safety of the and passengers!