Dogs in Trucks: Please Do Not!

If you are driving the roads outside Edmonton, you are certain to see a terrifying sight. It is the all too common event of a dog loose in the back of a pickup truck. Many people may not see this as terrifying, but the vets at Morinville Vet Clinic certainly do. That’s because we have seen the end result of a dog being thrown from a vehicle at high speed. It is a horrible thing to happen, and most dogs are euthanized because they are suffering so much. Those are the ones that even survive long enough to get to the vet!

If you were to pull one of these trucks over and tell the driver, they will say that the dog is secure in the back of the truck. It is on a leash. It never jumps out. That is hardly the point. If you are driving the back roads and hit a rut, it takes very little for a dog to bounce over the side of the box. If you are driving the highway from St.Albert to Morinville and slam on the brakes, no leash is going to keep a thirty kilogram dog from flying out of the box. Many dogs only make this worse by darting from side to side while the truck drives along.

The staff at Morinville Vet always give the advice that pets need to be secured in vehicles. Small pets can be in carriers. There are harnesses that buckle into the seatbelts. This safety should extend to dogs in the back of trucks. The best would be a kennel that is tightly secured in the box. If that is not possible, secure the dog with cross ties—two strong lines that attach to opposite sides of the box and keep the dog in the middle of the front of the box.

There is one other way to guarantee that your dog will not jump, fall or be thrown from your truck at any speed: please leave him at home. Please remember, in the summer months it is simply too hot for our pets to be in vehicles. Whether the windows are open or not, it is imperative to recognize that the time your pet spends at home in a cool environment alone could be life saving versus spending a couple hours running errands with you. If you have any questions about pet safety when travelling please do not hesitate to contact the team at Morinville vet.

Written by Morinville Veterinary  Clinic