Please, please buckle up

[beanieh]

My heart is breaking, because my sister lost her beloved mix-breed Pepper on Thanksgiving night. She and my brother-in-law were driving to a family wedding in another state. They had their dog in the car with them (the car was a Jeep Liberty), but she was not restrained in any way. Neither was my brother-in-law, for that matter. The car hit an invisible patch of ice, spun around into the opposite lane, then hit the shoulder and rolled. It was totalled.

My BIL was thrown to the back seat, and was banged up pretty badly. We are thanking God that he was not injured worse than he was -- he could have been killed. My sister was bruised from the steering wheel, but otherwise physically o.k.

Pepper, however, did not fare so well. She escaped from the car and took off. They were not able to catch her, but instituted a search that lasted many hours. They received a call from their tow truck driver that he had spotted Pepper running, but when they got to where she was they found she had been hit by a car and killed. My sister and brother-in-law are completely devastated.

Please, please everyone, use your seatbelts. And use some sort of restraints on your beautiful fur-babies in the car. Either a dog seatbelt, or a crate. SOMETHING to prevent such a tragedy from happening. Also, make sure that your dog has some sort of identification on them. Many people have posted about the dangers of collars, but I am afraid that it can be dangerous NOT to have a collar with ID tags while you are travelling. My entire family is suffering the loss of our wonderful Pepper. I don't want anyone else to have such an experience.

Think good thought for us, please. This is a very sad time.

Eve & Bongo

 

[Princess3604]

i am so so sorry about what happened to your sisters dog! glad that your sister and brother-in-law is ok.. i am def going to get my pup a doggie seatbelt now..

~sending lots of hugs and boxer kisses your way!~

 

[Ciscobxr]

Your poor family! How terrible for them! I am glad they will be physicaly ok, but the hurt in your hearts will last awhile I'm sure.
I had never used dog seatbelts, but after reading stories like this one, I bought Cisco one when he was still a baby. He can sit, or lie down with it and does not mind it one bit!

 

[Luvnmyboxer]

My Titan absolutely must wear his seat belt in the Jeep (mine is a Wrangler with a soft top) b/c I fear that if it rolls he will escape if the top is ripped- and I also dont want him thrown about with all the metal bars and rods that stick out in a jeep. As much as my baby loves to ride in his Jeep- his safety is my first priority- and he likes his seat belt for the most part, he can lay down and turn in it. Plus he does look mighty handsome in the front seat with his seat belt on and top off with big ole' slobbery kisses blowin in the breeze..........in the summer of course, too cold now--BRRRRRRR

**** Please buckle up your dogs when you buckle in your kids and yourself, they want to be safe too*****

 

[sinbad'smom]

i am glad your sis and bil are alright. so sorry about pepper that is just awful..sending positive vibes to them and your family...

 

[haleyandmark]

I am so sorry to hear about Pepper! We are sending speedy healing vibes to you and to your family! I have been meaning to but still haven't bought a doggie seatbelt - I am going to do that first thing tomorrow.

 

[brwneyesk8]

I am sorry your family had to go through that...

Please extend our thoughts to your sister and brother-in-law...we hope they have a speedy recovery....from wounds both physical and emotional.
That is a terrible thing to happen to anyone and I wish our poor defenseless pups didn't have to go through anything like that.

 

[pinkpuppy]

We're so sorry for the loss of Pepper; poor girl :( How terrible...

Chloe wears a seatbelt and enters and exits the car ONLY by the passanger door... we were told that such is a good habbit - might stop her from running onto the street when excited to go for a car ride.

 

[lafsalot]

Ahhh, I am so terribly sorry to hear about poor Pepper, but am glad that your sister and her hubby are alright. Always the procrastinator, I haven't bought a doggie seat belt as of yet, but will do so now. Sending healing vibes to you and your family ~ Cathy

 

[angray]

I am so sorry for your family's loss. I know I would be heart broken if anything ever happened to Mugsy.

We also have a safety harness/seatbelt for Mugsy. Another thing that our trainer instructed us to do when riding in the car is to use the "wait" command. She said that we should almost always tell Mugsy to "wait" before allowing him to exit the car - even if you have the door open for him - he should stay until he is released.

This really works with Mugsy. We have been doing this for months, and he knows that he has to wait until we say he can exit the car.