Vernon woman in car crash glad her dogs were safely buckled in
Long-time Vernon resident Karen Cooper was hit by car a few days ago while driving with her two dogs on the way to pick up her third dog from the groomers.
She can’t give information on the accident itself because it’s under investigation, but she said the impact was major, pushing her truck across two lanes and leaving her with soft tissue injuries, a neck injury and bruises.
“I didn’t see it coming and thankfully was in a large vehicle,” she said.
Cooper is using the traumatic event to raise awareness of keeping pets safe in vehicles. One of her dogs was harnessed in the front seat while her other dog was harnessed in the backseat.
Without the restraints, her dogs would have become projectiles, potentially causing more injuries and damage. They have padded harnesses made for a seatbelt attachment so they stayed mostly in place.
“Having loose roaming pets or even loose things like books can hurt you or your pet in an accident,” she said. “If my dogs were flying around in this case they would have been seriously injured.”
Cooper said well-meaning people at the accident scene were trying to remove the dogs from the vehicle. Even though she was in shock, she was conscious and worked to keep the dogs secured inside.
“The dog in the back put his breaks on and couldn’t be moved, weighing 65 lbs,” she said. “The dog in the front got protective. People trying to help need to be extra cautious as sometimes even the sweetest dog may lash out in fear. Well-meaning people may not understand how to safely remove a dog, especially if it’s injured.”
READ MORE: Kamloops cat rescue finds feral cat full of pellets
Cooper was worried if her dogs were removed, they’d get loose and run into traffic.
“Almost weekly I’m seeing reports of people who are in vehicle collisions and their pets flee because they are fearful,” she said. “I was lucky I was conscious and able to redirect people away from my dogs.”
Cooper has been belting her dogs in for years and uses crash resistant crates for long trips and highway travel that are secured in with a seatbelt. She said the crates can be expensive but there are a lot of options on the market at different price points and she uses the best crates within her budget.
She’s worked with dogs for years and currently does homecare for hospice and palliative, mostly senior pets in the Vernon area.
READ MORE: Court orders ICBC scammers to pay $155K as punishment
Having pets properly restrained prevents them from escaping, flying forward or being hurt in a crash, and they need to be buckled up for safety, according to ICBC.
Securing pets also reduces distracted driving, a leading cause of car crashes in the province.
ICBC recommends keeping dogs in the back seat buckled with a harness or in a crate.
Harnesses should fit dogs properly, allowing them to stand, sit or lie down comfortably while crates should be crash-tested and well secured.
Dogs should be kept inside the vehicle, not riding in the back of pickup trucks. Section 72 of the BC Motor Vehicle Act prohibits the transport of an unsecured pet in the back of a pickup truck.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
