Will Ask Cities to Do Same : County Puts Leash on Pets in Open Vehicles
San Diego County supervisors on Tuesday approved an ordinance prohibiting pet owners from transporting an animal in a vehicle unless the animal is inside the cab or safely restrained in the bed of an open pickup truck.
The board also approved a separate ordinance requiring pet owners to provide adequate ventilation to animals left in unattended vehicles.
“People have to crack their windows to give animals sufficient air,” said Lani Kian, spokeswoman for the San Diego Humane Society.
Kian said the new law requires that during transportation animals be enclosed within the vehicle, or protected by a cab, a secured cage or a harness.
The ordinances only apply to people in the unincorporated areas of the county. Susan Golding, the board member who spearheaded the drive to pass the ordinances, said the county would ask all cities in the county to enforce similar ordinances.
The sheriff’s department will be empowered to cite people who are transporting animals that are not secured in the vehicle.
However, deputies will give pet owners a two month grace period to become aware of the law, officials said.
Offenders of the new ordinances can be faced with a $50 fine, according to Fred Lee, director of the San Diego Humane Society.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
