A picture of a dog tethered to a flatbed truck as it speeds along the highway has gone viral, and is making people question animal safety laws.
In Houston, Texas, a person driving by the truck snapped these pictures and posted them on Facebook, where it was met with strong reactions.
People were shocked, disheartened, disgusted, and appalled. It is evident that the dog, which appears to be a Husky, is not enjoying his ride: in one picture his ears are pinned down, in both, his tail is tucked between his legs. You can imagine he had very little footing on the flat wood surface, with only a tether to hold him in place as the truck cruised at speeds around 65 MPH.
While the person who posted the pictures prefers to remain anonymous, Monica Schmidt with the Houston Humane Society weighed in for a story by KHOU News.
“You get a sense of disbelief that this could even happen. And you think, ‘are you sure this isn’t Photoshoped?’, because it’s just so horrible that anybody would do that,” she said in the news story.
Here’s the truly disturbing part of this situation: the dog’s treatment displayed in the pictures is completely legal in Texas.
It is only considered a crime if the animal is hurt. (You’d think that laws should be put in place to prevent trauma, both physical and emotional.)
“We really need stricter laws in Texas to be able to protect those animals that can’t protect themselves. Every dog owner should be saddened that as a society that happens… here in Houston on our highways,” said Schmidt to KHOU News.
She also suggested that people upset by these images continue to share them to bring awareness to laws that most certainly need to be changed, and contact your elected official to urge them to push for stricter animal rights laws.
Check out the news story here:
