I wanted to share this with you all, it is very long, but is something to think about.
In this story please focus on what could have happened to Annie, not what did happen to me. This post is not about me. It is about what can happen to our precious furbabies.
On June 6th I was going to met a friend for coffee.
Annie goes every where with me. But we were going somewhere new and I didn't know if they had outside seating so I left her home.
Little did I know that decision would save her life.
On my way to meet my friend a young gal ran a very, very red light. She hit me with such a force that she broke the frame of my Ford Explorer in 2 places. Needless to say my truck was a total loss. The officer at the scene told me that had I not been in my Explorer but in a different type of vehicle, she would have killed me.
But had Annie been with me, she would have been killed and ejected from the vehicle.
For many years I raised Guide Dogs for the Blind. We were instructed that you never allow a pup to be lose in the vehicle. When the pups are smaller they go in crates in your vehicle, when they get bigger and are trust worthy then you put them on what we called a tie out. It is a short cable with clasp at both ends, so you can put 1 end around something stationary and the other end on the leash. This was done for their safety as well as ours. If you were in an accident the dog is safe in the crate and if it is on tie down they wont be ejected. The theory behind the crate was the same. It should not come open if ejected from the vehicle. Therefore keeping the pup safe from running into traffic or just running and running from being so scared.
So what happened to my brain when I got a yorkie? I don't know maybe the it won't happen to me sydrome.
With both Phoebe(rip
) and Annie they were always lose in the vehicle. They both rode on my lap, or the girls lap. Annie does have a Celleti carrier the kind that has the place for the seatbelt to slide through and I did have it that way in the Explorer. But, she was free to get in it or out of it. It was very, very rare that I ever hooked her to the clasp.
Just somethings to think about........
*Airbags can and have caused serious injury to adults and children. What would they do to a yorkie?
*We put our human babies in carseats to keep them safe. What about our yorkies?
*As adults we wear seatbelts to keep us safe. Again what about our yorkies.
*How many times have you driven down the road, with the window down yorkie sniffing at breeze, what would happen if you suddenly had to hit the brakes. Where would the yorkie go?
* Last thoughts...
what would have happened to Annie had she been ejected from my vehicle alive?
Would she have survived the impact of hitting the ground?
Would the people who were rushing to scene, seen her and been able to catch her?
Would she have been hit by the other traffic?
I thank God everyday that I don't have the answers to those last questions about Annie. That I left her home and she is alive!
Annie now travels with her harness from Chattiesmom and is tethered(on a tie out).
As I mentioned these are just some things to think about, after all our yorkies are precious cargo.