Unbuckled Dogs Draw Stiffer Penalty Than People
Say goodbye to the dog days of summer. New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals issues warning to pet owners—restrain your dog in the car or face stiff penalties.
As we turn the bend into summer, say goodbye to your faithful companion hopping into your car, sitting in the passenger seat and hanging his shaggy head out of the window tasting the freedom of the open road — or as much of the open road as one canine can get between red lights, stop signs and one-lane only road construction.
Northjersey.com Road Warrior John Cichowski reported last week that Col. Frank Rizzo, police superintendent for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, issued a warning that any motorist found driving with an unrestrained pet will face a penalty much stiffer than the $46 fine issued to unbuckled drivers and passengers.
Penalties for unrestrained dogs range from $250 to $1,000 and as much as six months in jail.
Rizzo told reporters that the rationale for the enactment of this new law is that in a car accident dogs become projectiles if they are hanging their heads out of the window.
Patch decided to go straight to the ones charged with the task of enforcing this law and issuing summonses—dog owning police officers. Those who agreed to respond asked not to be identified, but had the same opinion.
"Seriously," one veteran officer said. "The best part of my day is hitting the road with my dog sitting right beside me in my truck."
Another thought that this was a particularly intrusive law, especially given the severe penalties.
"Does a K-9 have to be restrained?" still another cop questioned. "I can hear it now, 'Wait, we can't sniff out the perp—the K-9's caught in the restraint.'"
In Overpeck Park's dog run on Saturday, the owner of Daisy, a Great Dane, said he thought this was just a back door way for the state to make money. "Really," he said "$250 to $1000? Why not just say you have to add dogs onto your car insurance policy?"
"Oh wait," he continued. "The state wouldn't get that money."
The owner of Millie, a Jack Russell Terrier said, "Great, so now when I restrain her she'll bark non-stop in the car and I'll get into an accident."
How do you feel about this new law? Take our poll and let us know.
DOG
12:31 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
hi
Dazed not Confused
1:05 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
This article misses the point. The reason why it's important to restrain an animal (or a package etc.) is that it may distract the driver. I have witnessed too many times a driver with a dog on her or his lap having trouble seeing around the dog's head, and using one hand to pet the dog.
E Liz
1:30 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
I agree 100% with dazed. If the dog is in the backseat, lying down or otherwise minding his business, I don't think there is a problem. However, dog(s) on the laps of drivers should be ticketed as any other distracted driving. I recently saw a woman with a matched set of three of some tiny white dogs climbing all over her and the steering wheel. It doesn't need to be a seperate law for pets - it could be careless driving, having an obstructed view, or distracted driving (like texting). And I am not a dog lover, never had one, don't particularly like them. I think common sense application of the laws we already have are sufficient here. If there is an accident and the dog gets injured, oh well. I got rear ended once on my way home from Homegoods and broke a ceramic lamp I just bought ... should that have been in a safety harness?
zoeae
2:55 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
I don't see any mention of a "new" law. The law at issue is apparently 16 years old. Nor does the law even specifically require that a dog be restrained in a car. It states that "A person who shall carry, or cause to be carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or otherwise, in a cruel or inhumane manner, shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense." Is it just Col. RIzzo that interprets this as requiring restraints? Or is it now New Jersey police policy?
M OKeef
4:08 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
So can another passenger be holding the dog and thereby restraining the dog? Are you supposed to restrain the dog with the seat belt? Can the dog be in the backseat in a crate? What about other animals? Or is this directed only at dogs?
Larry
4:28 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Shoddy reporting by Patch.
As @Zoeae notes, the law does not say that a dog must be restrained. The law says "A person who shall carry, or cause to be carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or otherwise, in a cruel or inhumane manner, shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense and punished as provided in subsection a. of R.S.4:22-17."
So yes, to some extent it is to the discretion of the SPCA officer, but it does not say that animals MUST be constraint. Notice this next line from the press release:
"Col. Rizzo said the NJSPCA would like to see every animal contained or restricted from moving around freely in a car". Notice it says '...would *like* to', not *must*.
JD
5:16 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Can a dog be in the back of an SUV unrestrained?
John Fonseca
10:26 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Yet another high penalty law that won't be enforced due to a variety of reasons. Joins the current greats such as:
the one about cleaning snow/ice off the top of vehicles
the one about hand held cell phone usage
the one about texting
the one about stopping for pedestrians in a crosswalk
etc...
Taking into account the laws of physics, and that in a rapid deceleration an unsecured dog becomes a projectile possibly aimed at a hard windshield, a dog owner should be able to determine themselves what a safe way to transport a dog is.
For anything further than a 1 mile trip to the vet's office we use tied down crates in the back of the SUV with the rear seats folded down. That's just what we do. There are plenty of other options.
As for Millie with the Jack Russell, if a barking dog is all it takes for you to get into an accident, maybe you should reconsider your status as a driver. Like any other distraction (phone, text, offspring, etc), it's your primary responsibility to operate the vehicle safely and ignore any sensory input that interferes with that.
John McCann
11:52 am on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Another idiotic law from our useless politicans. You can't make this stuff up.
How about they spend some time figuring out how to improve the lives of PEOPLE.
Larry
1:26 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
To the last two commenters: Read the primary sources, not Patch. Patch has misreported this information. There is NO NEW LAW. There is an old law saying you can be fined if you transport animals in a cruel or inhumane manner. Nothing on the books says anything about buckling-in dogs in a car.