WASHINGTON, DC (May 15, 2013) " Center for Pet Safety™, the nonprofit dedicated to consumer and companion animal safety, today announced that it will allow pet product manufacturers the use of its proprietary, instrumented and weighted crash test and static dog models for product testingof pet travel products through a licensing agreement.
“The test dogs are expensive yet necessary for manufacturers to gather data and evaluate the real- world, worst case, performance of their products,” said Lindsey Wolko, founder, Center for Pet Safety. “We want to encourage pet product manufacturers to test their harnesses, crates and other travel equipment as part of their efforts to ensure that consumers and their pets are offered effective, measurable protection by these safety devices.”
In its 2011 pilot study of popular dog harnesses, The Center for Pet Safety (CPS), discovered that many pet restraints and other pet travel products are not tested before going to market. The study revealed an alarming 100 percent failure rate of the tested harnesses and none of the products were deemed safe enough to protect the dog and the humans in the event of an accident. Preliminary crate testing was performed as well, raising additional safety concerns for vehicle occupants.
The Center for Pet Safety is currently partnering with Subaru of America, Inc. on a landmark pet car safety restraint study. Through scientific product evaluations, they are collecting harness data to support a pet safety restraint standard scheduled for publication later this year. In addition, they plan to identify current, top-performing harness brands.
Wolko continued, “Our work is as much about human safety as it is about pets. If one of these pet safety devices fails in an accident, a human life may be in harm’s way. Our preliminary crate testing has uncovered a serious concern around passenger safety, which is the reason consumers are demanding we expand the harness testing with a crate study. We will offer constructive guidance to consumers to ensure they are as safe as possible until the standards for these products are inplace.”
Pet product manufacturers interested in licensing the use of the CPS test model dogs should contactInfo@CenterForPetSafety.org or call 800.324.3659 for details. Corporations, foundations and other nonprofit organizations interested in strategic partnership opportunities with the Center for Pet Safety should reach out to Lindsey Wolko at LWolko@CenterForPetSafety.org or call 800.324.3659.
About the Center for Pet Safety™
The Center for Pet Safety (CPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to consumer and companion animal safety. Based in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, the Center for Pet Safety’s mission is to have an enduring, positive impact on the survivability, health, safety and well-being of companion animals and the consumer through scientific research and product testing. Welcome to the Science of Pet Safety TM. For additional information, visit www.CenterForPetSafety.org.