Pet Safety Days

Seatbelts and other car restraints for dogs have been around for a while now. I confess I've bought a couple, but either they haven't worked or I am too lazy to deal with it.  

My first experience was with my dog Mercy, an Australian shepherd-collie mix, when I was in the process some years ago of moving from Long Beach to San Pedro.

Mercy liked to ride shotgun, in the passenger seat of my VW Jetta (though she preferred the driver's seat). I was trying to train her to stay in the back, for her safety and mine.

So on one of the pre-move trips when I was still hauling whatever I could over the bridge to the new place, I carefully buckled her up safely in the back seat.

By the time we got off the VT Bridge in San Pedro, I looked over and there she was, sitting next to me as always, in the passenger seat. I'm not sure how she managed to get out of the contraption, but she did. The ones nowadays are probably better. Or maybe I hooked it up wrong.

 Anyway, all that's to say, there's a group called  Bark Buckle Up that is that's dedicated to pushing the message that dogs riding in cars should always be safely secured.

Because the group has named Volvo as its 2008 "Pet Safe Vehicle," they're having a Pet Safety Day event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 21) at Volvo of Santa Monica, 1719 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Bark Buckle Up will help educate pet owners about the importance of pet safety in the car and demonstrate how to use pet restraints.

"Seat belts protect millions of people very day," said Christina Selter, pet safety advocate and founder of Bark Buckle Up. .... "In the event of an accident, an unrestrained pet can escape and be hit by another vehicle, cause another collision, or attack emergency crews trying to reach an injured party."

Selter buckles up her dog, Betty, even if she's just going to the supermarket.