# Harness decapitates dog in crash testing



## Marta Wajngarten (Jul 30, 2006)

I wonder how those who want to legislate that people secure their pets in their vehicles using untested crash restraint devices will respond to that!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9672761.htm

If any one wants to see vids of all the test including the stuffy dog getting decapitated:

http://centerforpetsafety.org/research/


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

scary ... tx for posting the links
i never assume ANY "dog" product is adequately tested, no matter what is on the label, including crates

i had a tour as a "test dummy" while in the Navy. had fun with some "gadgets" but also tried a few things that nearly killed me :-(


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## Marta Wajngarten (Jul 30, 2006)

This is a great vid to watch/listen to as well and related to car safety/dogs in transport

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/23840778

Elicia Calhoun, a well known agility competitor was involved in a catastrophic crash which result in the death of two of her dogs. This incident sparked multiple debates about how to safely secure dogs in vehicles and traveling while tired, a subject very relevant to all of us who travel extensively with our dogs to all sorts of dog events, seminars, and trials. Elicia describes in amazing detail every thing leading up to the crash, amazing details of her account of the crash, and what happened after.
One of the dogs that died was a puppy that was being transported in a crate. Her belief is that the puppy suffered a broken neck on the water bucket while the car was rolling.


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## Mirka Jantunen (Jul 2, 2012)

A harness is better than no harness. The dog is pretty much toast either way, but if there's a harness involved there's at least a change the dog won't cause significant injury to the other passengers. A harness also prevents that untrained family pet from causing a crash by bothering the driver. 

That being said there's one brand of car crates I think may actually work, which I do recommend to people, who ask me about this stuff. The bonus with these crates is that their length is variable, which may help when people end up changing their vehicle eventually.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Mirka Jantunen said:


> A harness is better than no harness. The dog is pretty much toast either way, but if there's a harness involved there's at least a change the dog won't cause significant injury to the other passengers. A harness also prevents that untrained family pet from causing a crash by bothering the driver.
> 
> That being said there's one brand of car crates I think may actually work, which I do recommend to people, who ask me about this stuff. The bonus with these crates is that their length is variable, which may help when people end up changing their vehicle eventually.


ok.. what is the brand? :-\"


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## Mirka Jantunen (Jul 2, 2012)

Joby Becker said:


> ok.. what is the brand? :-\"


http://youtu.be/_rXQ9UecZ8c


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## Bart Karmich (Jul 16, 2010)

looks like good testing in the videos

In my opinion the main purpose of the pet restraint is not to save the dog, but to prevent the loose dog from injuring people. I would not expect a harness to do that, and the videos clearly show they do not keep the dog in position or prevent it from striking the driver or a passenger.

I use an airline style crate secured in the cargo area or a steel dog guard that is bolted to the car's metal body. These do not protect the dog, but they do keep the dog secured during regular travel (without crashing), and it keeps the dog out of the passenger compartment in the event of a crash.

Actually protecting the dog itself from injuring during a crash more than what you can do by securing it in a crate that is secured to the car would be difficult. Restraining their movement to the degree that a locked seatbelt restrains a person would be quite an unusual experience for a dog, and effective airbags would be prohibitively expensive (there is both the high cost of the devices themselves as well as development expenses).


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## Mirka Jantunen (Jul 2, 2012)

Bart Karmich said:


> Actually protecting the dog itself from injuring during a crash more than what you can do by securing it in a crate that is secured to the car would be difficult. Restraining their movement to the degree that a locked seatbelt restrains a person would be quite an unusual experience for a dog, and effective airbags would be prohibitively expensive (there is both the high cost of the devices themselves as well as development expenses).


This is very true. 

Even though I like that particular brand, it's not like it would prevent the dogs from getting injured during the crash as they'll still be able to move about the crate. If the crate breaks, it probably breaks up better and more safely than a standard wire crate (which isn't asking much). Here are some actual accident photos where an earlier model was involved:
http://hd.se/inrikes/2007/08/01/man/
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article559551.ab
It looks like the dogs have been evacuated through the back of the crate as it is open. Both dogs escaped w/o apparent injury (I suspect they were sore afterwards), the driver was taken into a hospital on an ambulance. He had a concussion and a sore back and neck, but nothing worse thanks to the airbag. He drove into a semi, so it's pretty similar accident to the one Elicia Calhoun described in the video.


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## Marta Wajngarten (Jul 30, 2006)

Mirka Jantunen said:


> A harness is better than no harness.


A harness might stop a dog from being annoying during driving, but accruing to the test, during a crash a harness is just as good as no harness and possibly better.

If any thing, I hope this opens the eyes of some consumers that they are buying products that claim to protect during a crash but have never actually been crash tested. 

Most of these harnesses on the market today are just glorified puppy harnesses with cooler looking patches that we wouldn't even trust for bite work.


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## Mirka Jantunen (Jul 2, 2012)

Marta Wajngarten said:


> A harness might stop a dog from being annoying during driving, but accruing to the test, during a crash a harness is just as good as no harness and possibly better.
> 
> If any thing, I hope this opens the eyes of some consumers that they are buying products that claim to protect during a crash but have never actually been crash tested.


Any harness will prevent one type of crash ie. the one where a dog interferes with the driver. Of course there are plenty of dogs (mine included) who wouldn't do this even, if they were traveling free. As far as stopping the dog from injuring people not all harnesses do. I would trust a model with seat belt webbing and metal slide buckles to stop the dog from becoming a projectile in the way a non-secured dog would become. Will it decapitate a dog? It could. Might it safe the life of a human passenger? It could. Will people purchase only harnesses of such quality? I doubt it...

My dogs travel in a custom made crate, pretty much like this one LINK. For my current vehicle, it's the best I can do. Next car will be something that fits a bigger Variocage as I want to be able to switch cars without always having to get a new crate or crates. I'm pretty sure I'll be traveling with the dogs on such a steady schedule there might come a time, when I have a new car, but no crate that would fit.


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## Tashauna Medrano (Jul 23, 2011)

Does anyone sell the variocages in the US. I would abosolutely love to purchase one.


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## Marta Wajngarten (Jul 30, 2006)

Tashauna Medrano said:


> Does anyone sell the variocages in the US. I would abosolutely love to purchase one.


CleanRun.com has been working on that for the past few months. They should be available any time now.


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## Marta Wajngarten (Jul 30, 2006)

A report of the study:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzMqXthoTWqPYUdiYXctNF9zeGc/edit?pli=1


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## Laura Bollschweiler (Apr 25, 2008)

*Variocage now available in U.S.*

http://mim.se/?p=productgroup&i=1&l=en

I just got an email regarding group discount preorder pricing for variocage for the month of August. You need to email the importer directly. It's the same importer Clean Run is using. Instructions and more info are on Facebook. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/344888635582961/?ref=ts

I want a double! Love the air flow. I emailed for the price list and I think it would be $1052.19

Laura


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

In New Jersey, under state law, NJSPCA officers can stop a driver they believe is improperly transporting an animal. Tickets range from $250 to $1,000 per offense, and a driver can face a disorderly person's offense *under animal-cruelty laws*.

does that make sense after seeing this thread?


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

The same can be said about motorcycle riders who don't wear helmets, folks who do and don't buckle up in the car. Pets in crates get slammed into the side walls of the crate and the crates can go flying around the car or truck.

Big picture...keep them home, otherwise I see nothing that's fail safe. Mine are crated 24/7 for many reasons. Drive like you don't trust anyone AND you might stand a little better chance...JMO!


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## Mary Velazquez (Mar 31, 2012)

I heard about that law in NJ and after finding out about those crash tests I cant help but be a little irritated. 
If I am going to be *required* to have my dog in a harness or crate supposedly for their own good then I need more than just the rationalization that I am restraining my pet to keep it from injuring other people if we crash. 
Until they come up with something that actually does improve my pets chances of being unharmed in a crash, its bogus to require me to use one that for sure doesnt work. If they make something as good as a seatbelt for dogs, I will use it.


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Dog harnesses and seat belts seem to be ineffective at best.
All my dogs are transported in airline style crates in all my vehicles, none ride loose. Of course if I get rear ended by a truck they're likely to be injured but crates are a lot safer then being on a harness/seat belt. I've got so much training equipment/potential projectiles in the van the dogs are probably safer then I am in case of an accident?


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## Karen M Wood (Jun 23, 2012)

I was rear ended years ago in my Mazda Pickup standard cab. My dog Ivy was wearing her seatbelt/harness. Thanks to that little harness she did not go flying into the dash or through my window. She was neither injured nor decapitated luckily! She was shook up and refused to get back on the truck. Since my father had come out to the accident site to make sure i was ok. She rode home in his car. 
Since i have trucks, i usually have the dog ride with me in the cab. And their kennel/ gear all ride in the back after i strap it down as well as i possibly can.
I also know an agility trainer/judge that was in a very bad accident with her two dog. Angelica Steiner SUV was hit by a drunk, and the impact rolled the car. One dog was in an airline crate and was bumped and brusied he came out ok. The other dog was in a soft side crate and suffered serious injury. Angelica spent some time in the hospitol and has since recovered well. 
But i can't tell you how many idiots i see in Tampa with their dog loose in the back of a pickup truck in traffic. Or riding in the owners lap hanging out the window!


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## mike finn (Jan 5, 2011)

Howard Gaines III said:


> The same can be said about motorcycle riders who don't wear helmets, folks who do and don't buckle up in the car. Pets in crates get slammed into the side walls of the crate and the crates can go flying around the car or truck.
> 
> Big picture...keep them home, otherwise I see nothing that's fail safe. Mine are crated 24/7 for many reasons. Drive like you don't trust anyone AND you might stand a little better chance...JMO!


Joby said in New Jersey they can write you for animal cruelty for not seat belting a dog. I personaly feel that crating a dog"24/7"is not right. But I dont tell any one what to do with their dogs, I consider it none of my business,unless it is way over the line. But I sure dont like people telling me what to do with mine. My bulldog rides with me all the time in the back seat. Does New Jersey or places like them have so few problems they have time to waste on this crap? It is just crazy how many rules some people want.


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