Monday some friends of ours were involved in a pretty serious car accident. Thankfully everyone is on the mend with no permanent damage done to anyone! However, their injuries required medical assistance which included a kind nurse who stopped before the ambulance arrived, an ambulance ride to the hospital and a short stay at the hospital while tests were run and stitches put in.

Here's the part interesting for us: They had their two little dogs in the car with them. As I spoke to my friend, she kept talking about how her son was so concerned about the dogs even though he was bleeding all over the place and how a kind stranger volunteered to transport the dogs to the local (this family was on vacation and not in their own town) hospital because they could not go in the ambulance. My son was like, "No way would I let a stranger take Baka in her car!"

I have had a dog for years and really never thought what would happen in an emergency situation where you are or nearly are incapacitated. I am picturing a kind stranger releasing the dog and not understanding that huskies will not be loyal to their injured owners but rather try to run to Canada...across a busy highway. If the dog was released and properly restrained, I doubt if the leash, which would have been loose in my car, could be found. This family spoke of how personal items including purses and cell phones were flung out of the car.

I don't know what my real question is... Perhaps anyone who has ever thought this scenario through could comment. Or maybe we talk this through together. Maybe medical personnel have stories like this to share....

Guess it depends on the dog culture in the area. If that makes sense. I know in Larimer county the sheriff or fire personnel will transport injured or uninjured animals to the vet school at CSU. Then they board the animal in a secured area with lots of knowledgeable people around until the owner can return home.

If it happened somewhere else, I don't really know what would happen. But their tags all have six different phone numbers of people who would drop everything and go get them anywhere in the state.

Good thinker topic.

After this happened: Agility trainer in car wreck with dogs.

I started thinking about it.

installing the zip line in the E was done after thinking about a car accident. if we were ever in an accident they would still be secured in the car, on a leash, if a window was broken or if someone opened the doors to get us out of the car the hope would be they would not take off. i never thought about being so injured that we would need a ride to a hospital and then what about the dogs....good brain thinker.... maybe we need car tags that list friends in the area to come get them, or the rescue maybe. like to hear what other have to say about it

Wow this is a great topic. I work for an elder law attorney (we prepare Wills and Powers of Attorney (POA's) and the like). We recommend that our clients put a copy of their Health Care POA in their glove box. This way if they were involved in a bad car accident, the EMT's would have immediate access to the POA and know who to notify right away.

Maybe a list of who to call to come get the dog and some instructions on care (a copy of the dog insurance information in case the dog needs to go to the vet) placed in the glove box would be a good idea?

Most EMT's are trained to check the glove box for identification and information (Most people keep their insurance and registration in the glove box and items kept in the glove box are less likely to be thrown from the vehicle in an accident.)

I did some research into the safest way to have dogs travel in the car. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of research into the matter. It seemed a properly secured sturdy crate was best, but there wasn't a lot of test data on it. We have the zip line thing. One thing I do caution is to never, ever have a dog secured to anything by the collar in the car. A minor fender bender can be deadly when the dog is yanked about by the neck. Always use a harness.

I always worry about car accidents and our dog, just because she goes so many places with us! I'm pretty sure that if I was conscious, I would refuse to let go of Phantom unless they let me put her in the ambulance with me.

I've never thought about this! How scary Mine are always tied up in the car so I wouldn't be too worried about them running off, but somebody letting them off leash freaks me out. What freaks me out even more is them getting hurt

This is what I just printed out to store in the glove compartment:

Dog Emergency Information

Dogs Names
Breed: Siberian Huskies
Mya – Black and White Female
Kody – Grey/Beige/Black Male
Asia – Red/Brown/White Female

In case of an emergency please contact:
Marti (Melissa’s mother) #
Ray (Melissa’s father) #
Raymond (Melissa’s brother) #
Cristi (Melissa’s friend) #

PLEASE DO NOT LET THE DOGS OFF LEASH AT ANY POINT! THEY WILL RUN AWAY!

Vet Information:

Gomara
Contact Info

Anything else I should include? I still haven't gotten them doggie insurance. I'm horrible. I know

You aren't horrible Melissa, but get on that!

I am going to make a window decal for the front right of my windshield with info that says DO NOT LET DOGS OFF LEASH - Emergency please call ..... with my moms number on it

mheath0429 wrote:

You aren't horrible Melissa, but get on that!

I am going to make a window decal for the front right of my windshield with info that says DO NOT LET DOGS OFF LEASH - Emergency please call ..... with my moms number on it

The privacy conscious person in me would have concerns with putting a private phone number on display in my windshield. We have a dog emergency contact card in our wallets (where generally emergency personnel look for the human's identity) but putting somewhere immediately visible in the car to NOT LET THE DOGS OFF THE LEASH is a good idea.

valid point, my emotions got the best of me!!! maybe I'll put my work phone That way one of my pet loving bosses could help out and its not a private number

MelissaI wrote:

This is what I just printed out to store in the glove compartment:

Dog Emergency Information

Dogs Names
Breed: Siberian Huskies
Mya – Black and White Female
Kody – Grey/Beige/Black Male
Asia – Red/Brown/White Female

In case of an emergency please contact:
Marti (Melissa’s mother) #
Ray (Melissa’s father) #
Raymond (Melissa’s brother) #
Cristi (Melissa’s friend) #

PLEASE DO NOT LET THE DOGS OFF LEASH AT ANY POINT! THEY WILL RUN AWAY!

Vet Information:

Gomara
Contact Info

This sounds good to me!! I did the same last night. Although I didn't put a description of Saphire or her vets information. Guess I will have to add that tonight!

I like Melissa's idea!

If the windshield get cracked, who knows that that decal would look like.

If all the information is listed in the glove compartment on paper and EMT's and Police know to look in there for car and ID information, the dog information would also be found.

I think I would also print another tag to attach to their collar just in case and have it say:
If my owner is hurt
Call 303-###-###

I think that would fit on a dog tag...

cmanding wrote:

I think I would also print another tag to attach to their collar just in case and have it say:
If my owner is hurt
Call 303-###-###

I think that would fit on a dog tag...

This is a great idea also. This would work if you were ever out in public with your dog and had a problem (heart attack, passed out, etc.)

These are great ideas! I am glad you guys started discussing this.

If we were incapacitated and transported immediately to the hospital via ambulance, where do you suppose our dogs would stay until the contact person arrives? My friend's scenario took place about 2 hours from our hometown. I wonder if a police officer would take the dogs? I guess they might call Animal Control. Do you suppose Animal Control would take the dogs to a vet or to a shelter? I was just at my vet's office today and should have asked her...

Well here in Cheyenne, any animal that is found without its owner goes to the animal shelter. I assume this would be true if the owner were incapacitated as well. I know that our local animal shelter has temporary holding kennels. Unfortunately, like many animal shelters, ours is overcrowded. So I wonder how long they would keep a dog in this situation. Surely they would see the situation differently than picking up a stray or loose dog.

cmanding wrote:

I think I would also print another tag to attach to their collar just in case and have it say:
If my owner is hurt
Call 303-###-###

I think that would fit on a dog tag...

That's a great idea too! I'll be doing that the next time I'm at the pet store!

My vet has been giving us free pet ID cards. I keep one in my wallet and one was made for my key chain. It has all of Montana's info, picture, and her current vaccination records. It also instructs the reader to call them when there is an emergency. It makes me feel better knowing our vet would take our dogs and board them if needed.