oakway Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Yesterday I became aware that "Seat Restraints" for dogs travelling in motor vehicles is a LAW here in NSW - at least. As such, all dogs travelling in a motor vehicle MUST be wearing a body harness that is attached to a seat belt, or be secured in a dog crate. Failure to do so, can and will result in "HORRENDOUS FINES! Recently, a gentleman was pulled over for a standard "breath test," and when doing so, he had his two pet dogs happily riding along on the back seat UN-RESTRAINED! He was fined $440.00 for EACH DOG! That is right... A total of $880.00! If you feel this is not believable, then may I suggest you either phone the "Kirrawee Family Pet Hospital Ph. (02) 9521-6422 and ask them, or go into their clinic and see the two receipts for the fines that are attached to the reception desk. Further, if your anything like me, a) you would not have been aware of this law, or b) you would never have imagined how costly the fines are (I'm sure it's not that much for a person passenger not wearing a seat belt!), and c) will ensure in the future that you don't find yourself in the same position, because you were oblivious to the fact. Welcome to cross post, and I suggest that people living in other states may want to check out if they have the same law enforced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murve Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Hi Oakway thank you for the awareness if this, I do know in Vic it is enforced you do have to either restain or crate your pooches. I had the local bobby's comment the other night, on our way home from training, when I went through 2 Breath test stations "Lovely to see you have your dogs crated" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 (edited) This discussion has the dog restraint requirements for various different states. This Link Edited August 13, 2011 by Tilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dxenion Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 (edited) NSW Legislation Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 No 200 7 Carriage and conveyance of animals (2A) Without limiting subsection (1), a person must not carry or convey a dog (other than a dog being used to work livestock), on the open back of a moving vehicle on a public street unless the dog is restrained or enclosed in such a way as to prevent the dog falling from the vehicle. Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both. Road Rules 2008 297 Driver to have proper control of a vehicle etc (1A) A driver must not drive a vehicle if a person or an animal is in the drivers lap. Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units. As far as I'm aware, there is no specific reference in the legislation covering the restraint of dogs inside the vehicle but the police can use Rule 297 if they feel that the dog is distracting the driver (which means that the driver does not have proper control of the vehicle). I'm not aware of any other NSW laws that cover this situation. Oakway, when you say you became aware, were you given any reference to specific legislation? Edited August 13, 2011 by Dxenion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I do know it is illegal in NSW to have a dog unrestrained in the front but I'd not heard anything about in the back seat? I think the law came in about dogs traveling in the front early this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dxenion Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I do know it is illegal in NSW to have a dog unrestrained in the front but I'd not heard anything about in the back seat? I think the law came in about dogs traveling in the front early this year? I just had a look at the NSW Road Rules and can't find any reference to this. Do you have any further details I can chase up? This is the link to the legislation. I did a search for 'dog' and 'animal' and no other relevant references came up. This is a link to the NSW Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and there is only one section I can find that relates to the carriage of animals and it only mentions not carrying a dog on the open back of a moving vehicle on a public street. If anyone knows of any other references, please list them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Search here as they have been several topics recently. It is not against the law to have a dog unrestrained in the car- it is against the law to have a dog which interferes with the driver's control. If someone got a ticket for not having them in a harness etc then they're an idiot for not taking it to court and challenging it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 (edited) I emailed the RTA about it about 6 months ago - the ruling used to be no dog on the lap of the driver, but now it is no unrestrained dog. The dog has to be tethered to the car somehow or contained in a crate or at least that's what i was told. Edited August 13, 2011 by ~*Shell*~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Did they quote the Road Rule they were relying on? Last time I went through the Road Rules the only mention of animals in the car was dogs on the back of utes and dogs in laps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dxenion Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I emailed the RTA about it about 6 months ago - the ruling used to be no dog on the lap of the driver, but now it is no unrestrained dog. The dog has to be tethered to the car somehow or contained in a crate. In the email, did they provide a link or reference to the particular legislation? If they didn't, would you mind PMing me the name of the person who provided this information and I'll see if I can get a legal reference from them on Monday. If we get pulled over about our dogs, I'd like to know where I legally stand and have a black and white reference to back it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Sorry Dxenion, email was deleted a long time ago. I'll see if I can find what it said. They referenced an amendment and sent me the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 In a previous topic on this Shmoo posted this: I wrote to the Parlimentary Office and asked in March this year. This was their response:Quote: Clause 297 of the Road Rules 2008 provides that a driver must have proper control of a vehicle. This might extend to making sure animals are properly restrained and are not distracting the driver. NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office FYI Counsel's Office means legal office. Knowing their speak - the use of 'might' was a deliberate choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 NSW Legislation Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 No 200 7 Carriage and conveyance of animals (2A) Without limiting subsection (1), a person must not carry or convey a dog (other than a dog being used to work livestock), on the open back of a moving vehicle on a public street unless the dog is restrained or enclosed in such a way as to prevent the dog falling from the vehicle. Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both. Road Rules 2008 297 Driver to have proper control of a vehicle etc (1A) A driver must not drive a vehicle if a person or an animal is in the driver’s lap. Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units. As far as I'm aware, there is no specific reference in the legislation covering the restraint of dogs inside the vehicle but the police can use Rule 297 if they feel that the dog is distracting the driver (which means that the driver does not have proper control of the vehicle). I'm not aware of any other NSW laws that cover this situation. Oakway, when you say you became aware, were you given any reference to specific legislation? Not me Just cross posted from another list with permission as it appeard to need more clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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