I recently wrote a piece in memory of the pup who died on the United Flight. And now, with National Puppy Day here, I wanted to post again on pet travel safety, focusing on the attitudes and actions of those who travel with their pets in cars.
Volvo Car USA has teamed with Harris Poll across four core themes: design, safety, technology and environment. The inaugural Volvo report seeks to determine ways people prefer to travel with their pets, and how that need has grown within the average American family.
The survey delved into the knowledge level regarding pet-car safety, and was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. adults of whom 1,342 are pet owners, and many are millennials. The online survey was administered February 8-11, 2018.
The interesting results:
A majority of Americans (69%) see their pets as “family members,” and one in five (23%) see their pets as children. Compared to other generations, millennials view their pets as “starter children” as they delay having kids of their own.
Half of millennial pet owners would rather splurge on their canine companions than themselves, and nearly 40% of millennials would take a leave if they could when acquiring a new pet. This devotion runs even deeper for millennial men, who are more likely to spoil their pets by buying them organic food (39%), throwing them birthday parties (30%), and taking them to daycare (22%).
Increasingly, pets are travel companions, with almost half of millennials (49%) saying they will not go on vacation without their dogs and 38% of pet parents overall saying the same.
Virtually all Americans (94%) say they feel protective of their pets. Few of them (26%) strongly agree their cars are safe for their dogs if an accident occurs. Furthermore, one-third of millennial dog owners (31%) admit they feel guilty making their pets ride with them in the car.
A majority (84%) think people don’t take dog safety in vehicles seriously enough. Almost all (97%) drive with their dogs, but many practice unsafe driving habits. Forty-one percent let their dogs ride in the front seat, and less than a quarter (23%) buckle their dogs up.
Commercials of vehicle manufacturers and other major brands continuously celebrate dogs in vehicles in unsafe positions, such as sitting in the front seat, unbuckled or sticking their heads out the window. This contributes to ignorance when it comes to pet safety.
Almost half (48%) of pet owners do not own any of the safety driving gear tested for their furry friends. In fact, only 28% have purchased a dog crate or harness seatbelt; only 11% use a car seat; and only 5% say they have a built-in pet safety system.
Almost three-fourths (71%) agree that vehicle manufacturers should proactively build more dog safety features into their vehicles. And almost half (46%) say vehicle manufacturers that do not have built-in dog safety features do not care enough about pet safety.
Modern pet parents are raising their expectations and standards of how they treat their pets – and they expect vehicle manufacturers to do the same.
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