Pet Safety Expert Launches Campaign to Address Hidden Danger Facing Millions of Drivers
New initiative highlights how dogs transported incorrectly in cars put pets and people at serious risk
A new safety campaign is drawing attention to a largely unspoken but potentially deadly risk on UK roads: the way pets are transported in cars.
Founded by Claire Harris, a professional pet transporter with over 10 years of experience, the campaign aims to educate pet owners, challenge existing safety standards, and develop a crash-tested car harness designed specifically for small dogs.
“Most pet owners believe they’re doing the right thing,” says Harris. “But independent crash testing shows that many popular dog restraints fail completely in collisions — not only endangering the animal but turning them into a serious hazard for drivers and passengers.”
A Safety Gap That Affects Everyone
While child car safety has evolved significantly over decades, pet transport safety has not kept pace. According to crash-test research conducted by independent organisations such as the Centre for Pet Safety (USA), unrestrained or poorly restrained pets can be thrown forward with devastating force during a collision.
Despite this, there is currently no widely enforced safety standard addressing the risk unrestrained pets pose to human occupants — a gap that has implications for road safety, insurance claims, and animal welfare.
“This isn’t about blaming pet owners,” Harris explains.
“It’s about acknowledging that the information, regulation, and product standards simply haven’t caught up — and people are unknowingly being put in danger every day.”
From Research to Action
The campaign, launched on GoFundMe, is raising funds to:
• Design and prototype a safer dog car harness for dogs under 15kg
• Conduct independent crash testing
• Build an education platform for pet owners and professionals
• Lay the groundwork for future safety standards and innovation The project is intended as a collaborative starting point, not a commercial shortcut.
“This is about prevention, education, and saving lives — human and animal,” says Harris. “If we can change how people think about pet travel safety, we can prevent tragedies before they happen.”
A Call for Industry Involvement
The campaign is actively seeking engagement from:
• Veterinary professionals
• Pet insurers
• Pet retailers
• Automotive manufacturers
• Animal welfare organisations
• Safety and regulatory bodies
“There is an opportunity here for real, cross-industry change,” Harris adds. “Pet safety shouldn’t be an afterthought — it should be part of the conversation around road safety as a whole.” About the Founder Claire Harris has spent over a decade professionally transporting pets across the UK. Her work has led her to study the history of vehicle safety, pet restraint design, and independent crash testing — uncovering critical gaps between perception and reality when it comes to pet travel safety.
For more information visit: info@pets2places.co.uk
