[url=http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-dog-days-of-summer/]The Dog Days of Summer | The Truth About Cars[/url] The Dog Days of Summer By Jerry Sutherland August 23, 2009 Most dogs love to go for a ride. Perhaps it taps into their genetic hunting imperative. Maybe it?s a pack thing. One thing?s for sure: a dog would never question why it has to ride in the back of an open pickup truck. Nor, unfortunately, do hundreds of thousands of pickup-driving dog owners. The Utah Humane Society estimates 100,000 dogs die every year from jumping out of moving trucks. At least as many dogs are seriously injured. And the number of chronic ear and aggravated eye injuries is even greater. So stand back fellas: I?m going to pour some hate on owners who think man?s best friend should ride in the back of the truck. Why guys want to take their faithful companions on a trip where Spot gets the third class truck bed seat is a mystery that rivals why moronic ?Reality TV? producers don?t go to jail for the wholesale slaughter of viewer IQs. When I?ve asked owners about the practice, their answers tend to fall into one of three categories: ?who the hell are you to tell me how to take care of my dog,? ?he loves it? and ?it?s a dog.? The first answer reflects a misplaced love of freedom; the freedom to raise an animal any way they damn well please (unlike the restrictions placed on their children), without some stranger/cop questioning their methods. Even more basically, it?s the freedom to let their dog live as they wish they (the owner) could: wild and free. In the moment. Without worrying about danger. Or lawsuits. Or, let?s face it, responsibility. Which is where the ?right? to stick a dog in the back of a flatbed falls down. For one thing, Canada and the U.S. have democractically-enacted laws against animal cruelty. Our governments hold dog owners responsible for the health and well-being of their animals. While pickup truck owners don?t consider ?Fido rides in back? dangerous and unhealthy, society does. And for good reason. According to Dr. Deb Zoran, a Texas A&M University veterinary professor, ?There?s probably not a veterinarian in Texas who hasn?t treated a dog injured from riding in a pickup truck.?
