Laws for Transporting Cats In Car – All You Need to Know

Are you planning on going on a trip with your cat? Or do you often need to travel with your cat in the car? Whatever it is, you must get acquainted with the cats in cars law. These laws are there to ensure the safety of pets inside transporting vehicles and ignoring them may cause you a lot of trouble.

In this article, I am going to explain all the laws related to traveling or transporting cats in cars or any other vehicle.

So, let’s get started!

Here Are The Laws

Thanks to the Animal Welfare act of 2006, pet owners are not responsible for the welfare of their pet animals while traveling in any type of transport. If you don’t follow these laws and your irresponsibility causes any accident, then your car or pet insurance might get invalidated.

I have researched for hours and found these laws that you need to absolutely follow while traveling with your cat. One thing I would like to add is, these laws are similarly applicable for any other pet such as dogs.

• The owner must restrict the pet while driving. It is made to ensure that the pet cant distract the driver in any way or cause any injury. This law is sanctioned by the Highway Code. If you don’t abide by this, your insurer may not pay in case of an accident. It is recommended to use a suitable carrier or seatbelt harness to restrain the pet. A recent study showed that in the US, around 22% of accidents are caused by the distraction of the driver. So, it doesn’t matter how much you worry about your cat’s comfort during the ride, it is a must to restrain her. It will keep both you and your cat safe.
• A recent law stated that, if any pet is left unattended in a vehicle, and if the pet is in any imminent danger than authorized personnel (humane officer, police or animal control officer) can remove the pet from the vehicle (after doing a thorough search for the owner). While doing so, the officer needs to leave a note on the vehicle explaining where to pick the pet and any other information regarding the pet.

What Will Happen If You Don’t Listen To These Laws?

In the UK, if any motorist is found not restraining his pet inside the vehicle, he can be fined up to 5000 pounds. Also, the motorist can be subjected to an invalidation of any pet or car insurance in case of an accident.

If a motorist is found driving with an unrestrained pet, a police officer can charge him in various offenses. The most dangerous one is traveling with a pet without proper attention and care.

In addition to a financial fine, the breaking of this law can even cost 9 points from driving license. In extreme cases, the court might even ban the motorist from driving.

Additional Tips To Follow

When you are traveling with your cat, there are many things you need to follow. Here I’ll explain some tips that helped me to travel successfully with my cat.

Before I even start to share the tips, it is important to state that if an animal is in any of the below conditions, then it is not fit for any kind of travel:

1. The pet is injured or ill
2. Newborn
3. Can’t feed itself without the mother
4. The pet has given birth within 2 days before starting the journey
5. The pet is pregnant

Here are some of my handpicked tips for traveling with cat:

• Before even starting the journey, get a suitable carrier for your cat. I have many articles on carriers in this site. You can go through them. This carrier is my personal favorite for long car rides. It has got great reviews from thousands of cat owners. Also, I think it provides the best security to my cat while traveling.
• Make yourself organized before the travel begins. Take everything that your cat will need with you. Do not forget about litter and litter box.
• If the journey is long, make frequent stops. It will keep your cat less stressed.
• If a cat carrier is too much for you and you want something simpler, then you can try out a harness. Though they are not as good as carriers, they can work quite well for short car rides. This one is quite good!

Lastly, I would like to finish by saying that cats in cars laws are there for a reason. It is to keep both you and your cat safe while traveling. So, it is very crucial to abide by these laws for the safety of your cat and yourself.

Do not forget, being irresponsible while driving can cost both you and your cat’s life.