pet safety & injuries : All posts

Paws Around Town

Pets: Summer safety (and summer fun) for dogs

There are certain things we need in life—seat belts, fire extinguishers, bicycle helmets, air horns for the dog park—that we hope we'll never have to make use of, but we keep them handy “just in case.”

In my time with dogs, always owning multiples, I've had plenty of emergencies. Some life or death, some ending with an embarrassed, relieved chuckle at my overreaction to an injury.

More after the jump…

With poll: Unrestrained pets can be distracting, dangerous in vehicles

The topic of distracted driving has been a popular one locally, with the Ann Arbor City Council considering a ban on using cell phones while driving, and the Michigan legislature adopting a statewide ban on text messaging while driving.

Next on the list of driver distractions may be pets. From an article in the New York Times on Wednesday:

Exact statistics on pet distraction are difficult to come by — most surveys list unrestrained cats and dogs inside the car as one of many “internal distractions” along with grabbing loose items on the seat or swatting an insect. But nearly 90 percent of pet owners say they travel with their pets. And one survey from Nationwide Mutual Insurance found that 8 percent of drivers admit to driving with a pet on their lap.

More after the jump…