On Wednesday, a friend of a friend of mine was driving on the Long Island Expressway with his two dogs. He was side swiped by a truck. The front windshield was shattered and the car was totaled. Miraculously, neither he or his smaller dog was injured seriously. The smaller dog remained in the car. His larger dog, got so terrified, that it leaped through the shattered windshield and began running down the Long Island Expressway. If anyone knows the L.I.E. you know that it is always loaded with tons of traffic and lots of trucks! The man got out of the car, took his smaller dog and began running down the highway to look for his larger dog. What a horror!! The good news is that he did finally catch up with his dog who was still very scared and all three quickly got out of this awful situation. When he got back to his car, the cops were there wondering why he left the vehicle. Who cares!! As long as he and the dogs were safe.

How could we protect our dogs and cats in the event of an accident? It’s always much safer to keep them in their cat or dog crate but lots of dogs love riding in the car with their owners. I would then recommend, getting them a dog harness that’s called a “roadie.” You can get them from ruffrider.com. They work like a seat belt and strap your dog in and restrain him. I would always recommend either the crate or the harness. Drive safely all the times, especially if you have children or pets with you!