Police Apprehend Dog For Reckless Driving

No treats for Sparky!

While we’ve seen a few examples of pooches who were trained to “drive” a car, an incident in Texas involved a dog getting behind the wheel without so much as one driving lesson. Not surprisingly, the whole thing ended in a collision but thankfully everyone is okay. As for the police, they got a good laugh out of it.

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The incident in question happened on December 1 in the city of Kilgore. Parking their truck in the local Walmart parking lot, the owner left the dog in the cab. Plenty of people do this and if it isn’t hot outside, the pooches are just fine.

However, this canine started getting agitated, probably feeling some separation anxiety. We’re dog owners, we get it. The only problem is the leash got wrapped around the emergency brake and the pressure released that. Since the steering column suffered some damage a while back, as the dog jumped around and knocked into the gear selector, the transmission was taken out of Park and put either into Drive or Neutral.

That was when the dog was behind the wheel of a moving truck in the Walmart parking lot. The runaway vehicle hit two other cars before it came to a rest. One of the victims of this unfortunate turn of events was shocked when he got out of his smashed vehicle to find only a canine was inside the truck. Witnesses told police they saw the dog behind the wheel before the truck crashed. Obviously, Sparky needs some more lessons on steering and using the brakes.

This is a great reminder that if you’re going to ride with your dog in the vehicle with you, it’s not a bad idea to invest in a seatbelt anchor. It snaps into an empty seatbelt receiver and attaches to the dog’s collar or harness on the other end, preventing your pooch from hopping all over the interior. Not only would that have prevented this accident, it keeps your best friend from jumping into your lap while you’re trying to drive.

Photos via Kilgore Police Department