Roadside Recovery

Hi everyone - I'm new to this site as of a few minutes ago so please bear with me if I make a mess of things.

This week I fell foul of the roadside recovery policy of not taking dogs in the recovery vehicle. My three pet dogs had to travel in my Suzuki GV which was strapped to the back of the pick-up truck. I was mortified but I was so far from home, and in the middle of a motorway (thankfully at a service station) that I had no choice.

Only since warning friends on FB about this have I discovered the tragic case last November and other cases too. What I haven't been able to find out (perhaps because I haven't looked hard enough) is whether there is any company out there that will guarantee to recover your pets with you. Does anyone know?

This episode has made me seriously think about travelling any distance with them - just in case.

I have never heard of such an absurd abuse of the 'health & safety' laws as this and in my case there was nothing at all in the small print.

Any pointers to cover would be gratefully received. I cancelled my existing cover as soon as I got home I was so disgusted.

Personally I would prefer my dogs to travel in my van, safely caged and in familiar surroundings, than try and cram them all in the cab with me! I can quite understand why the driver wouldn't want a lively (and probably scared) dog leaping around as he/she is driving - not to mention four border collies like mine! There is also the possibility of someone with a severe allergy using the cab after your dogs, which wouldn't be very pleasant, let alone safe. I understand it is always at the discretion of the driver, rather than a policy of the recovery company.

The incident you mention was, as far as I am aware, an unfortunate sequence of events and certainly wasn't the fault of the recovery company.