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Friday, October 18, 2013

Dummy Dogs Finally Used In Vehicle Restraint Crash Tests

Photo of MGA Resources Corp. employee buckling in a doggie dummy, courtesy of Subaru.

Leave it to a female automotive engineer to lead the way in protecting our traveling canine companions. According to this article published just days ago by ABC news, Lindsey Wolko founded the nonprofit "Center for Pet Safety" and developed a set of crash test dog dummies that were recently used by an independent lab to conduct the first, large-scale testing of canine car restraints. Subaru of America later signed on to fund additional rounds of testing that included dummy models of a 75 pound Golden Retriever, 55 pound Bulldog, 45 pound Border Collie and a 25 pound terrier mix. (Glad they tested a mixed breed like me!)

The doggie dummies, who are anatomically correct and stuffed with computer parts, have the same center of gravity as the real pooch to ensure the validity of the tests. "Because of the lack of oversight and the lack of testing in the industry-it's quite the 'Wild West' out there-you are consistently putting consumers and their dogs at risk," said Wolko.

Interestingly, only one of seven harnesses that were tested protected all of the dummies in 30 mph crashes: The Sleepypod Clickit Utility Harness. And one of our favorite go-to publications, Consumer Reports recently published the comprehensive test results, so go check 'em out. We say: Kudos to Lindsey Wolko for creating a nonprofit company focused on pet safety!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Finally...about time. Let's hope that now we can have proper harnesses for cars. Have a super Saturday.
Best wishes Molly

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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