On the road again

Agility as a sport requires us to do a lot of travelling by car with our dogs. Most of us aren’t lucky enough to have a training field within walking distance so it's a back and forth possibly several times a week. And then there are the shows which are dotted all over the country. Did it ever occur to you that driving to agility could be a dangerous activity? For Malcolm Page, what started as a routine drive nearly turned to disaster.

In 2007 Mac Page was on his way to a show at the East of England Showground (Peterborough) when a refuse lorry unexpectedly crashed into his car and caravan. The air ambulance was scrambled. The crash caused chaos. He managed to escape through the window of the car with only a scratch but his two dogs, Fly and Annie, though uninjured, had to be cut free by fire-fighters. It was an agonising wait.

Lucky to be alive

After the event, Malcolm commented, ‘The need for proper dog cages is obvious from the photos. I believe that when my car got crushed, the cages being purpose-built of heavy mesh took some of the impact. The back didn’t crush right down onto the car where the dogs were.

He also told The Evening Telegraph,  'If (Fly and Annie) weren't in a cage in the back, I think they would be dead. I paid £640 for that cage, and it was money well spent.’

Mac was told by the recovery firm that approximately 80% of accidents with dogs in cars that are uncaged jump through the windows when the glass breaks and are either killed on the road or lost. Most people seem to think that their dogs are safe in their cars because they have a front or rear guard but they don't think about the windows being smashed and the dogs jumping out into the road.

Food for thought
Do you need to reconsider the dogs' safety when travelling. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, in a crash, an unrestrained pet could be seriously injured or injure people in the car. At 30 mph, for example, a 50lb (22.5kg) Border Collie would be thrown forward with a force equivalent to almost nine x 12st men.

Gill Arney of Safedog, commented, ' I'm old enough to remember the days when we didn’t have to wear seatbelts in cars. Now I can't imagine travelling in a car without wearing a belt.  The same may be said in future years about the way we used to transport our dogs around ‘in the old days'. 

If you do not have secure caging you might be putting not only are you putting yourself and your dog at risk, you might be breaking a legal requirement. Car harnesses are useful if your car is too small for a crate, or if you have a crate in the back and need the facility for an extra dog on the back seat.

Although The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 2006 is the main piece of legislation regarding transport of animals, it appears to relate to transportation for commercial purposes. It states that no person shall transport any animal in a way which causes or is likely to cause injury or unnecessary suffering to that animal.

Section 57 of the Highway Code, however, seems more specific

57: When in a vehicle make sure dogs or other animals are suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly. A seat belt harness, pet carrier, dog cage or dog guard are ways of restraining animals in cars.

Many vehicle accidents involve dogs traveling in cars, ranging from minor rear end shunts to vehicles rolling down hillsides. In the more severe incidents, the cages have prevented items from outside the car protruding into the boot. It has obviously secured the dogs in the load area and ensured no contact with the occupants during the crash and contained the dogs after the crash.

Unfortunately where dogs are not caged it does seem that frightened dogs have escaped from damaged vehicles only to come to harm from cars unable to avoid them. It can still be traumatic for the owners to know that the dogs are well but have run off while possibly in shock. In these days of cars having automatic fuel cut off switches surely the best place for a dog is to be contained in the vehicle where the owners can help and comfort them if necessary.

Ever since Sean Davies, the MD of Guardsman, saw his first crash test of one their dog guards for a Ford Galaxy he has decided to remove every item from his rear parcel shelf including a road atlas. He realised that the impact of even a hard back book at the 30mph could be potentially devastating.

Although the investment in a well built custom made cage can be substantial, it can be life saving for both the dog and the occupants of the vehicle. Cutting corners in build quality, mesh size and fitment may save money in the short term but may be cause for regret in the future.

Your help with research
Since then we have built up a relationship with MIRA (http://www.mira.co.uk)  (the Motor Industry Research Association) and have had many of our vehicle related products crash tested there. I would also like to ask that if anyone has been unfortunate to have been involved in a road traffic incident (I don’t think the police refer to them as accidents any more) with dogs and would be prepared to share the experience could they email me at sean.davies@athag.co.uk. I would like to build a library of people’s experiences for future reference. Also we are always keen to improve our products and if anyone has suggestions we are always pleased to hear from them.

long term manufacturer of vehicle dog caging, has commented that since the company was founded over 40 years ago After

The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997 is the main piece of legislation regarding transport of animals. It states that no person shall transport any animal in a way which causes or is likely to cause injury or unnecessary suffering to that animal. This means that by letting your dog travel unrestrained or in a way that has not been specifically crash tested, you are putting all involved at risk and breaking this legal requirement.

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Lizzie Langwade has been training in Agility since the age of 12 and started competing in 2004. She currently owns 3 collie dogs: two rescues – Max (Grade 6) and Ted (not yet competing) – plus puppy Hydro and a golden retriever bitch, affectionately known as Pig who’s now retired to anysize.

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