‘This Is Not a Pet Rock Kind of Thing’ : Dog’s Death Leads Owner to Design Seat Belt for Pets

Buckle up your beagle and strap in your Siamese cat, says a man who started making seat belts for pets after his Yorkshire terrier was killed in a car accident.

“This is not a pet rock kind of thing,” Gary D. Murray said. “It’s not a yuppie thing. It’s to save animals’ lives. I had one lady who was complaining she didn’t like the color. I said: ‘Listen, lady, it’s not for you. It’s for the dog.’ ”

Murray, 38, recently received a patent for his red “Pet Luv” harnesses and is planning to mass-market the devices, which attach to regular car seat belts and sell for $16.95.

The Reno resident was in San Francisco recently to show his invention to the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Restraint Called Good Idea

Chapter President Richard Avanzino said restraining devices such as the seat belts are a good idea, even for pets that enjoy traveling and usually are well-behaved.

“We hear of an untold number of incidents where dogs have jumped out of windows or out of the backs of pickup trucks, causing a serious traffic hazard,” Avanzino said. “Not only can the pet be killed, but it can cause a lot of human suffering because of people having accidents trying to avoid them.”

Mark McGuire, executive director of the Nevada Humane Society, said many accidents are caused by pets that interfere with drivers and distract them from the road.

In 1982, Murray was driving a friend’s car in Nevada when a tire blew and the car crashed into a tree. Murray, who only a short time before had started wearing a seat belt, suffered a cut on the head that required a few stitches. But his dog was thrown into the windshield.

“About two months later, when we got another dog, I tried to get something to make sure that if we took the dog anywhere it wouldn’t get hurt,” Murray said. “Regular leashes don’t work. They’ve got cages you can carry them in, but they bounce around inside them like Ping-Pong balls.”

He said when he asked several veterinarians where he could get something that works like a seat belt works for people, they suggested that he make it.

Murray, who at the time was a technician for a cable television company, said he spent seven or eight months working on designs and asking the advice of veterinarians.

After about 50 versions, he went after the patent.

The belt is a harness that fits around the pet’s chest and around its legs. Loops on the harness are attached to the vehicle’s seat belts. Murray said the harness allows the pet enough mobility to sit up and lie down, but not enough to jump onto the floor or out the window.