New Jersey Assemblywoman L. Grace
Spencer, who owns a Pomeranian, five cats and a rabbit, has introduced a state
bill that would require drivers to secure pets in seat belts, or
pay up to $1,000 in tickets or fines. The $1,000 fine would be imposed only in
extreme cases of animal cruelty, such as keeping a pet unsecured in the bed of
a pickup truck, Bloomberg
reported.
The fines would not apply to pets kept in
crates.
Endorsed by New Jersey's Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, legislation to require seat belts for pets
has been in discussion in the state at least since
the summer, not that such a bill doesn't have its critics, who argue that
more attention should be paid to the state's budget deficit and9.9 unemployment rate.
But Spencer defended the bill saying,
lawmakers are "taught to multi-task."
"This doesn't limit my ability to
address other issues for the people of New Jersey," she said.
Other states, such as Hawaii,
Connecticut, Illinois and Maine have banned motorists from driving with pets in
their laps, but New Jersey is apparently the first state to require that pets
be strapped in.
Whether New Jersey's and similar bills
become the law, Melissa Ramirez, founder of Chicago-basedZerimax, which makes
seat belts for pets, is already filling a new market niche. Launched in May,
Zerimax was named in part after Ramirez's dog Max, a miniature Pinscher, that
became paralyzed in a car accident in 2008. While airbags protected the driver,
Ramirez's husband, Max was thrown across the car. Determined to protect other
pets, Ramirez sells a variety of harnesses that range in price from $20 to $30.
"There was a void in the market with
devices that were easy to use," she said. "There are a lot but they
were cumbersome and difficult." Ramirez, apparently, is filling this void.
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