be a responsible pet parent

WHEN YOU DRIVE!

In order to practice safe driving techniques, the following has been provided to you for FREE via Danielle Vasta, owner of Bella’s House & Pet Sitting. 

TIPS FOR DRIVING SAFE WITH YOUR PET:

Always have your pet secured to a harness in the back of the vehicle. Pets who are on your lap or in the front seat could cause accidents, or be killed if the airbag was ever to deploy.

Never let your pets head hang out the widow! This is a simple was to avoid injury to your pet. Rocks, debris, or bugs could fly into their eyes, nose, or ears causing problems.

Prepare for the ride with letting your pet go potty before you begin your journey. Take bottled water and bowls. Take a greenie or chew toy to help occupy them so they do not distract you, the driver!

Bella’s House & Pet Sitting is a Nationally Award winning pet sitting service operating in Scottsdale, AZ. Bonded and Insured they offer day visits, walks, overnights, pet taxi’s and more. Call (480) 330-4552 www.BellasHouseAndPets.com

I received some great information from one of my clients who actually just did an online course on this subject. I thought the information was great so I am passing it along as PART TWO of driving safe with your pets!

Use common sense! Keep the fur babies in the back! No matter how much the pet enjoys it. Do we allow small children to ride in the front seat?  Pets in the front seat can be thrown into the dashboard or ejected from the vehicle during an accident or sudden stop.  Pets will also climb on your lap and interfere with driving or fall down by the gas and brake pedals, risking an accident.

Airbags  Launch at a speed of 150 – 200 mph in two-tenths of a second. In addition to the accident, the airbag impact alone can cause serious injury to a pet.

Safety restraints When driving at 35 MPH, an unrestrained, ejected 50 pound dog can cause an impact of over 2000 pounds to the driver (and itself) in the event of an accident. This can cause serious injury – or death – to both your pet and vehicle occupants.  

The most common type of collision is on the front driver’s-side.  This type of impact will throw everything in the vehicle straight at the driver, including pets, occupants or objects.  It is imperative that pets be restrained in a vehicle at all times.  

NOTE: During or following a collision, the risk of a pet escaping, running into traffic or worse is a very real concern. Animal owners can reduce this risk significantly through the use of a pet restraint such as a safety harness, cabin divider, or specially designed carry case. These can be purchased inexpensively at any major pet store.  Unrestrained, frightened or injured  pets can impede the ability of first responders to rescue vehicle occupants – and your pet.

The hot seat  Even though you’ll only be gone ‘for just a second’, a few seconds is all it takes for the temperature inside your vehicle to climb to extreme levels, creating a potentially deadly situation for children and pets. 

According to a General Motors study, temperatures inside a recently air-conditioned vehicle can exceed 122 degrees in 20 minutes on a 95-degree day, and continue to rise from there. Temperatures at this dangerous level will quickly overwhelm your pet’s ability to regulate it’s own body temperature, causing serious injury or worse. …and don’t even THINK about leaving a window slightly open or “cracked”, according to the same study, this will do little or nothing to cool your pet.

Information compiled by Scottsdale-based eLearning company, The Learning Design Group. www.TheLearningDesignGroup.com 

While driving around town to check on pets this past month, I have seen an alarming number of pets hanging out of drivers’ side windows on their parents’ laps! It struck me as amazing at how unaware the parents were of how VERY dangerous this is, so I thought it might be a great topic for this month’s article. 

Do you know that 84% of pet parents drive with their pets in the car at some point? With these high statistics, the following advice can potentially save many pets’ lives as well as educate the public. So get ready…and please send this to everyone you know who is a concerned pet parent!

Do not let your pets hang out the window!

• They could fall out.
• Something could fly into their eyes.
• Something could sting them.
• If you stop short, they could seriously injure their necks.
• They could be startled or excited by something they see outside the window and attempt to jump out.

Whether or not they are successful or any of these things occur, this could lead to a distraction to YOU and cause an accident! Pets, like children, should ride in the BACK SEAT because if a front-seat airbag is deployed, it could KILL your pet!

While in the back seat, they should wear a harness attached to the seat belt. Never attach a collar to the seatbelt; this could seriously injure your pet’s neck. This helps keep them in a safe area of the car; and if you are ever in an accident, it prevents them from running into traffic in a panic, possibly creating even more danger.

Okay, Danielle, so how should I drive safely with my pet?

• Remember to always keep them in the back seat with a harness attached to the seat belt, and consider using a pet car seat.
• Consider securing your pet in the back or your car or SUV behind a gate. 
• Make sure they go to the bathroom before getting in the car.
• Open the window so they can breathe in the air, but let the air come to them, not them to the air!

This just in! Farmers Insurance is introducing a Household Pet endorsement for all Auto policies effective 06/01/08. This coverage will pay up to $600.00 for a pet injured or killed in an accident or in a total-theft loss. This endorsement will automatically apply to all current customers of Farmers; for new customers, there will be no extra cost. Contact Joyce Seide at Farmers Insurance, (480) 443-1952, for more information.

This information has been provided to you by Danielle Vasta, Owner of Bella’s House & Pet Sitting. Please contact her at: (480)330-4552 or www.BellasHouseAndPets.com for any of your pet sitting needs!