Many dogs travel with their owners in cars, but if you get into a car accident, it can seriously injure your dog. This guide will explain what you can do before and after a car accident to ensure your dog's safety and health.
Injuries Caused by Restraints or Lack Thereof
Depending on the type of restraint used to keep your dog in the car, various injuries may occur. For example, a dog that's leashed to a seat and wearing a harness may experience rib fractures if the car suddenly comes to a stop. This same tension can potentially kill a dog if it's only wearing a collar or worse yet, a choke chain, as it can crush the larynx or even break the dog's spine if he or she jerked severely enough.
Dogs that are simply allowed to freely maneuver through the car or in a truck bed won't do well, either. Suddenly being launched forward in a car could send them flying through the windshield, or at best, end up crashing into the walls or ceiling of the car. A dog that goes flying from the bed of a truck may not survive.
Rather than simply tethering your dog down, consider either keeping your dog in a sturdy dog carrier or a dog car seat. Dog car seats are designed to firmly keep your dog seatbelted into its car seat, so in case of an accident, it won't suffer severe trauma. In addition, never keep your dog in the front seat with you, as an airbags aren't designed for dogs, and they could impact its head or neck and cause injury upon deploying.
Assessing Their Condition
Whether your dog was in a car seat or not, following a car accident, you need to assess its condition. Check your dog for these major problems after a car accident:
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Breathing - Is your dog breathing normally? Is it hyperventilating, struggling to breathe, coughing, or gagging? If it appears to be struggling to breathe, you need to get to an emergency veterinarian right away and attempt to clear its airway.
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Bleeding - Is your dog bleeding? If so, try to stop the bleeding with a compress or by applying styptic powder until you can get to the vet. Keep some styptic powder in your car's first aid kit.
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Broken Bones - If your dog appears to have a broken bone, try and keep your dog from moving around until you can get to the vet. A simple hairline fracture can become much more severe if your dog puts weight on the break.
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Shock - Dogs who are going through shock may feel cold, appear inattentive, or pass out. Shock can put the entire respiratory and cardiovascular system at risk, so if your dog shows these signs, get to a vet immediately.
Always See The Vet
Even if your dog appears to be fine, you should go to a vet, like My Rancho Bernardo Pet Hospital, to get a checkup right away. Humans often only realize hours or days later that they've experienced an injury in a car accident, and dogs are no different. Your dog may have whiplash, or it may have even suffered internal organ damage that could be catastrophic if left untreated.
Responsibly restraining your dog in the car can help to protect it during a car accident, but you and your dog should both be checked for injuries, no matter how severe the accident was. Never assume that your dog is fine after an accident, or it could potentially cost them their life.
