Well, do I know what I'm doing?

The ever-vigilant Yesbiscuit recently linked to an article which contained some comments from the ASPCA about transport rescues:

“The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals plans to have standards and guidelines on transports by the end of the year, covering issues from veterinary care to making sure animals aren’t being driven hundreds of miles when adoptive homes can be found nearby.

“A single dog in a car is probably manageable, but anything more than that you need to know what you’re doing,” President Ed Sayres said.” (Emphasis mine).

Here's a photo from a seven hour long for-fun road trip my husband and I took last weekend:



We didn't crate them for travel. I only have one crate right now. One and a half if you count the broken one that sits in the corner of the bedroom. It works to contain my well-behaved adult dog at night for sleepy times, but would fall apart if subjected to the stresses of car travel. Plus, it's more fun for them to look out the window. Doggy seatbelts would the best, and one day I will buy them for my dogs. One day.

We left them in the car alone while we ate lunch at a restaurant. This is a big no-no for many people, but I see no harm in it on a cool day.

The two puppies made an attempt about once an hour to climb into the front seats (easily fixed with judicious use of elbows); we had two instances of car-sickness; and towards the end of the day some bouts of crankiness that resolved themselves. They also got to spend their whole day with people (which they seem to, for some reason, enjoy), run around in four different parks (during which we lost 0 dogs, even though Buddy's recall is only about 50%); track approximately 8 tons of mud into the car, and boy did they all sleep well that night.

So, do I 'know what I'm doing'? Would I be given permission from the ASPCA to save the lives of dogs by driving them somewhere?

I mean, is this seriously rocket science? Maybe the ASPCA is unclear on the concept. Here, let me clear it up:

STEP 1: Put dogs in vehicle.
STEP 2: Drive the vehicle somewhere.
STEP 3: Give the dogs to someone who isn't going to kill them.