Doggy in the truck bed..

[alittlegray]

OK, I am not militant about dogs and open truck beds. And at least these dogs were in a crate, open wire. We just stopped to fuel up in Kingdom City, MO. As I am getting spoiled dog out of her cushy padded, air conditioned spot in the back of the Tahoe to go over and have a potty break, I see a big king cab type pickup next to us, with 24" wire crate in the back and the fluffy head of a terrier-type dog totally appropriate for that size crate inside.
As I am bringing her back to the truck, I see the huge golden lab try to sit up inside with the terrier. :mad: There isn’t enough room in this crate for it to sit all the way up, just hunched over, and not really enough for it to lay down except curled around the other dog.

So I just wondered what others would do in the situation as I perceived it’s which was dad in the drivers seat, teen girl with open laptop in the middle of the back bench seat. No other human passengers in a large 6 passenger cab.

Personally, I think if I couldn’t bear to let the dog(s) be in the cab with me, I would have tied the golden in the back as opposed to putting it in a small crate with second dog. Honestly so small I don’t know how they got this dog in there.

Please remind me that I am overly judgemental. I need it right now. Especially since it is also about 90 degrees here with the sun high overhead and both doggies were panting hard.

[Bluey]

Well, at least they were in a crate, if crowded in the heat.
Was 97 here today.

Around here, even after all the PSA from animal control about no dogs loose in the back of pickups, you still see that, as vets have to patch up or euthanize the results of those that get to them for help after the fact, which I suspect is not many.

I have learned, people that do that to dogs are not the kind you want to confront without backup.
They also don’t really care for humans and you may make a convenient target if you stick your nose in their business.:eek:

[alittlegray]

Yeah, he could see me giving him the stink eye as I loaded mine back into our packed vehicle. Even with a month’s worth of crap packed in there, doggy gets a seat inside. But then I think not everyone views their dog as a third child like I do. I just wished I had the nerve to ask him if he felt like that crate was big enough for those dogs to share, but he obviously did as he had them shoved in there. Again, at least they had a crate…

[Chall]

Well now, in NJ the new law is $1,000 for an animal loose in the car. Dogs can be a seatbelt, cats must be in a crate.

[Kryswyn]

For all you know, they may have been coming back from the vet or some other short trip and figured Golden could live with it for 15 minutes.

Once in an emergency (dead car) I had to put the 3 adult jacks and 1 10 week old puppy in a friend’s 36" crate. They were certainly cramped but the ride was only 10 minutes to the event, and 30 minutes home. They survived just fine.

[alittlegray]

This is true, thank you for putting it in perspective for me. :). I certainly hope that was the case.

[Horsegal984]

Could have been an emergency, could have been a stray or two they picked up on the way home, could have gone to the pound to pick up a dog and wound up saving two lives that day. There are a million reasons that two dogs could be in a small crate, and while it was hot, with a wire crate they are getting plenty of air circulation around them when they are moving.

Heck, could have even been like the other day when my dog broke out the back door as I was leaving. I didn’t know till 1/4 mile down the road I got stopped at a red light and he jumped in the bed of my truck! Scared the crap out of me, and I had to figure out how to improvise containing him very quickly! I’d hate tho think people are judging me when I was doing the best I had available under the impromptu circumstances I was presented with…

[GraceLikeRain]

I don’t care how impromptu a drive it is or whether or not I am picking up a stray, dogs ALWAYS go inside of the car. I’ve had strays puke in my car, friends dogs try to chew at my seats, puppies have explosive diarrhea (that was fun), etc. I would never forgive myself if a dog heat stroked or was thrown from my vehicle because I wanted to keep the inside of my car hair-free.

[Kryswyn]

Just clarifying, my dogs AWAYS travel in crates INSIDE my van (or years ago, car). On the ride I mentioned the crate was inside a friends Subaru wagon.

[TKR]

That is a huge pet peeve of mine, particularly in the summer. What is it about the cowboy types that love to load 2 or 3 dogs in the bed of the truck and leave them sitting there for unlimited amounts of time in the heat on that metal bed. Or they drive on interstates and in heavy traffic with dogs in the back, some with their front paws on the side of the bed. I’ve had a few words with some, I just can’t resist. I usually say something like “Do you love your dog?” and if they respond they do, then I ask why they put their lives in such jeopardy. We need much stronger laws on so many levels for animals in our State but the legislators are much more concerned about their image or getting re-elected than serving the purpose they were elected to do. Amazing how stupid and selfish and downright cruel people can be. Mine might ride from the barn to the house (on my property/driveway) in the bed, but no where else and alot of time even then they are in the cab. I wish there were laws and fines for such crap!
PennyG

[GaitedGloryRider]

I’m in the camp of hoping it was just a quick ride in an emergency situation where they had to just make-do. Though really, they could have put the dogs in the cab but I understand not everyone sees fit to let their dog ride inside the truck.

My own dog (a 200+lb English Mastiff) had a few uncomfortable rides in my older extended cab truck when I first got him. The back seat is just too narrow for a dog his size, I didn’t trust him in the bed and he couldn’t sit in the larger front seat due to the fact he’d spent 3 years locked in a laundry room by his previous owner and had zero manners, he’d constantly knock the truck out of gear and try to climb on me. Rides to the vet were not fun for him or I but he needed to get there and I wasn’t having any luck finding a crate big enough for him never mind the fact he probably wouldn’t have went in a crate anyway.

I knew I was going to keep him and knew I needed a better way to transport him, in the end I wound up buying a dirt cheap junky-but-reliable minivan and having the rear seat removed and it fits our needs perfectly. I’m sure there were a few people that saw my poor dog cramped in the backseat of my truck on those first few rides though and thought “Good Lord, look at that awful woman and her dog!!!”

[WalkinAfterMidnight]

Reminds me of moving from Texas to Ky. U-Haul truck with cat in small crate between DH and me in the cab. Big ol’ Oldsmobile on car hauler behind. 3 dogs in car with windows cracked, 5 gal bucket of water on floor in back seat. FREQUENT stops. Get pulled over in TN by an officer who had gotten a call that we had 3 KIDS in the car. LOL. The officer walked up, saw the dogs, started shaking his head laughing. No harm, no foul.

[Bacardi1]

Hey - it could be worse.

Last weekend hubby & were tooling down a major 4-lane highway (Speed Limit 65, so you know that most folks were most likely doing 70-75) & came up on a pickup with 6 young teenage girls riding in the bed.

Since this particular highway is frequently accident central, we both shuddered to think how this scenario would end up in the event of an accident. It’s simply amazing how dumbass stupid some people are. (Oh - & a definite adult was driving.)

As far as dogs, all too often I see them riding loose in truck beds - even on 90+ degree days. Too sad. What’s even worse is that they frequently jump out when something interests them or they want to follow “their master”. I’ve seen it happen when dropping off trash at the recycling center, or at the supermarket. Unbelievable. One guy at the supermarket was royally pissed when his big Malamute kept jumping out of his truck & following him to the supermarket doors. Like it was the dog’s fault.

[enjoytheride]

Ummm, I saw a dog loose in a truck bed, a flatbed. You know the kind with no sides on them at all?

[Bicoastal]

New Jersey’s new law

There has been recent news about legislating pet restraint. New Jersey now has a law.

While searching for a news story to link, I see that it is getting heat from the pet owner population. That is really too bad :no:. Hopefully the legislators stand firm on this. It is to protect pet lovers and haters alike.

[CVPeg]

[QUOTE=Chall;6369304]
Well now, in NJ the new law is $1,000 for an animal loose in the car. Dogs can be a seatbelt, cats must be in a crate.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;6378668]There has been recent news about legislating pet restraint. New Jersey now has a law.

While searching for a news story to link, I see that it is getting heat from the pet owner population. That is really too bad :no:. Hopefully the legislators stand firm on this. It is to protect pet lovers and haters alike.[/QUOTE]

Seriously?!?

Always had my labs in their crates, but now with an Irish Wolfhound, she lays down along the entire back seat, with a dog mat that connects to the front seat. When I brake it catches her from going forward to some degree. No crate exists large enough. Can’t envision a harness which would be of any use, or would create an additional hazard, and yet let her lay down??

Was thinking of going down to LBI possibly and stopping for blueberries on the way back. Now I’ll have to look over my shoulder. Erf.:rolleyes:

I can see legislating something so pets aren’t on your lap looking out the window, or loose in a pick-up bed. But this is getting invasive.

[HydroPHILE]

A few years ago I was driving home in the afternoon commute in Atlanta. If you haven’t been to Atlanta, in the Summer, during a commute in which there is an accident on I-75 then you don’t know what Hell feels like. Think 100+ temperature, humidity, high exhaust, stop and go, and just absurd.

I came upon an SUV that had three dog crates (wire) stacked on top of one another that was sitting on one of those cargo platforms that attachs to the tow hitch. Strapped together with moving straps were kittens in the top, cats in the second, and two heat-distressed adult Labs in the bottom one (only big enough for ONE dog.) The kittens and cats were clinging to the sides as if to say, “help!” Inside the SUV, the owners had luggage packed.

We sat there in 100+ degree temps, and the exhaust fumes from the SUV and surrounding cars were going right into the animals’ direction. I pulled beside them and said that their animals appeared distressed and needed water/shade ASAP. They flipped me a bird.

I called the police on them, but in the next 20 miles I followed them, I never saw any police cars.

[Chall]

I can think of a scenario:
someone in that car is asthmatically allergic to dogs.
a divorced father, with visiting child. dogs on trip to kennel/boarding.
The child is on visitation. if child lived full time, there would be no dogs due to allergies.

[HydroPHILE]

Ah…“no dogs due to allergies.” I sort of laugh at that as I have a mother that is severely allergic to dogs (so we don’t bring them to her home) that takes medication and has a patch she puts on when she visits our home that does the trick.