Labor Day Roadtrip Safety for Your Pet

Happy Saturday, pet lovers!

Well, the weekend is finally here and today is the last day of August.  Along with that comes Labor Day weekend traveling.  Road trips can be fun.  Road trips with pets can be both fun and challenging.  Besides ensuring that you're driving carefully yourself, and looking out for the driving patterns of other motorists, you also have to be aware of safely transporting your pet over long distances by car. 

Today's Labor Day Pet info is courtesy of Petacular Pet Stuff.com:

http://spectacularpetstuff.com/labor-day-road-trips-require-pet-safety/

Labor Day Road Trips Require Pet Safety

Labor Day weekend is the perfect time for a road trip with your pet. But traveling in automobiles can be extremely dangerous for you and your family companion.

Loose pets inside of vehicles can become a deadly distraction for drivers. Moreover, unrestrained pets can become hazards themselves during an accident. Without proper restraint, even a simple joyride with your four-legged friend could result in harsh consequences for everyone.

Here are a few important tips that will help to keep you, your best friend, and others safe and happy on your next trip:

• To avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety, work your pet up to longer trips by taking shorter treks before taking on a long expedition.
• Just in case you and your pet become separated, be sure that all ID tags are properly affixed to your pet’s collar and that they have your current contact information, including cell number(s).
• Update your microchip registration and pet license information to ensure its current and consider including the name and phone number of an emergency contact.
• Never leave pets unattended inside of vehicles. Remember that cars heat up fast—even with the windows cracked!
• Properly restrain, contain or crate your pets inside of your vehicle prior to your trip. Consider purchasing a specially-designed pet seat belt, carrier or barrier to avoid irreversible consequences due to distractions or other mishaps.
• Never allow pets to sit on your lap or remain in the front seat while you drive.
• Never allow pets to stick any portion of their bodies out the window. Although most dogs love to stick their heads out open windows, the wind can seriously irritate mucous membranes and blow pieces of grit or other debris into their eyes. Pets could also be seriously injured by objects as you drive down the road.
• Pets should never be transported in the bed of a pickup truck. Not only can your pets injure themselves, they can also cause an accident which may harm someone else.
• Do not leash your pet inside of a truck bed even when parked to avoid strangulation hazards and because open truck beds do not provide any protection from the weather. The hot sun can heat the metal floor of a truck bed enough to burn a pet’s paws. A dog left sitting in the sun without water or shade may suffer from heat stroke, so don’t risk it.

Keeping pets safe is every pet owner’s responsibility… and being a safe driver is not only your obligation — it’s the law. From all of us at American Humane, we’re wishing you and your four-legged family members a happy, healthy Labor Day weekend!

That's it for now, fur friends!
We'll see you back here on Monday for your September Pet and Animal holidays.

Until then,
This is your host J,
signing off...