WRITTEN BY: Nancy Gallimore
There’s a dog loose in the parking lot!”
That little sentence uttered in the lobby of my dog care business immediately turns me into an Olympic-caliber sprinter.
I grab a slip lead, a handful of cookies and race to the door, fully expecting to see a frantic owner chasing a furry keep-away champion.
On this occasion, I was greeted by a handsome, black Border Collie mix standing calmly and expectantly at my door—nary an owner in sight. Huh. I opened the
door and invited my new friend into the air-conditioning from the already steamy morning weather. This very polite, friendly guest was obviously pleased to be inside. His collar had a phone number on it, so I was
excited by the prospect of calling a surely distraught owner to immediately make his or her day.
Instead, when I informed the owner that I had found her dog, she was noticeably irritated. She told me she was shopping in an adjacent store and would be right there. When she arrived, she immediately removed my leash from her dog and let him back outside, chastising him for leaving the truck parked several feet away. Wait. What?
I followed her explaining in my best calm, professional voice that her dog was probably overheating while sitting in the truck bed with the sun glaring straight on him. “He’s smart,” I added with a laugh. “He knew he could come inside my dog daycare.” I even offered to let him return inside while she finished her shopping.
She informed me that he had plenty of shade when she parked and that he was fine. Apparently, she missed that day in school where they discussed the rotation of the earth around the sun because the space that might have initially been sheltered by our building was now baking in direct sunlight. In the summer. In Oklahoma.
As she instructed her dog to “load up,” she “explained” to me that I had no business telling her how to take care of her dog and that he was well-loved and cared for. I replied, perhaps with a tremble in my best calm, professional voice, that if she loved her exceptionally nice dog, she would not subject him to the dangers of riding loose in the back of her pickup truck. She then threw some choice words at me, did the pointy finger thing in my face and pulled away, her sweet dog watching me from his spot just inside the tailgate.
While I hope her quick-tempered reaction was due to a little feeling of guilt on her part, the dog was still at risk, and happy camper I was not. But there I stood, powerless to do much about the dog’s plight. We’ve all seen them—the dogs who are allowed/forced to be what I call “truck surfers.” The Cattle Dog practically standing on the cab of the truck. The patient Lab with his ears flapping in the wind. The black Border Collie mix sitting in the sun in the parking lot while his owner shops.
I will never understand how dog owners who genuinely care for their four-legged companions can begin to rationalize having the dog ride in the back of the truck as a good option. My what-can-possibly-gowrong-with-this brain can come up with about a million worst case scenarios. Let’s review a few.
First, as illustrated by my story, truck beds get hot. Whether metal or with a bed liner, that surface heats up in the sun and basically becomes a mobile frying pan. Dogs have bare feet and don’t generally wear pants, so standing or sitting back there is going to be uncomfortable in a hot minute.
Also, dogs cannot sweat. Well, they can a bit from the pads on their feet, but otherwise, the only way they have of cooling their systems is to pant. A dog stuck in a truck bed on a hot day is just panting hot air and potentially burning his feet. Your best friend who just loves to ride along? He’s back there potentially suffering from hyperthermia.
Second, do I really have to spell out how dangerous this activity is for a dog? Apparently, for some people, I do—the pointy finger in the face people. So imagine my best schoolteacher voice as you read this.
If you have your dog in the bed of your truck and need to stop suddenly, or swerve to avoid an accident, your dog can be thrown from the truck, potentially causing painful road rash, broken bones or death. And certainly, another car on the road could hit your dog as he falls from your truck. And what if, God forbid, you are involved in an accident? Yes, your best friend, who faithfully does what you ask him to do (“load up”), could be lost or very easily die from your decision.
I know firsthand of an incident where a dog was riding in the back of a truck around the owner’s own property. Not out on open roads. Just ranch work. The dog was having a great time keeping his person company. Harmless, right?
Well, the owner of the dog was moving a big horse trailer when his young, still clumsy Rottweiler fell out of the truck and was run over by the trailer in tow and killed. The owner was devastated. A seemingly harmless day of ranch chores took a horribly tragic turn.
I recall another story from a few years ago about a dog that was being transported in a truck and apparently jumped out somewhere along the way. The owners did not notice the dog was missing and had traveled 20 miles or more, as memory serves. The dog likely jumped out along the way somewhere but was never found.
Logically, any loose object in the back of a truck should be considered a risk, let alone a living being. Some states have passed laws banning dogs from riding in truck beds. As of 2019, it appears that six states (CA, CT, ME, MA, NH and RI) have laws that make it illegal to transport a dog on a public road, loose in the back of an open-bed vehicle. Wording in some of the laws allows dogs to be in secured crates or leashed to a crosstether in a truck bed, and some require the sides of the truck bed to be a specific height for added protection.
Maine prohibits transporting a dog in an open vehicle, like a pickup truck or convertible, in a manner that does not protect the dog: “A person driving an open vehicle may not transport a dog in the open portion of that vehicle on a public way unless the dog is protected in a manner that prevents the dog
from falling or jumping or being thrown from the vehicle.”
In Oklahoma, the transportation of animals falls within the state’s animal anti-cruelty law. That statute makes it a misdemeanor to carry an animal in a vehicle in a cruel or inhumane manner. This law was enacted decades ago and was likely intended to address the cruel transportation of farm animals; however, the language of the law is broad enough to cover the unsafe transport of dogs in pickup truck beds. But is it ever enforced? In talking with a few area law enforcement officers, I found that none have ever pulled over a vehicle for having a dog riding unsecured in a truck bed. Our law is apparently too frustratingly vague to be enforced.
But should it really take a law to remind people that man/woman’s best friend doesn’t deserve to be put at risk like that? In considering most people reading this article, I would guess I am preaching to the choir. We can all agree that our dogs belong inside the car, secured in a crate or hopefully wearing an appropriate seatbelt harness to protect them in the event of an accident.
When I was a little girl—I think I was 7—I had this dog-crazy-kid dream that when I grew up, I would have a bunch of dogs (nailed that), and I would get a pickup truck so they could all ride in the back. Then I turned 8 and realized how dangerous that would be. Needless to say, adult Nancy’s dogs ride safely in air-conditioned comfort in the back of my enclosed Jeep.
Now some might read this and argue that the truck bed surfers love riding back there. They love the wind in their faces. They love going
everywhere. To that I would answer that dogs are the equivalent of having a permanent child. To a kid, jumping from the roof, testing a sheet as a parachute, for example, seems like it might be fun, but hopefully there is an adult handy to suggest this is not a safe choice. My dogs are my friends, they are my family, and it is my responsibility to always make good choices for them and to protect them.
In rereading this article, I realize some parts, if not all of it, sound a tad angry. Oh, that’s because I am. Every time I see a dog hanging over the side of the open bed of a truck, I am angry. Hey, people who let your dog ride loose in the truck, be like 8-year-old Nancy.
Grow up.
