Is it legal to have pets in the TT while moving?

We will have 3 adults and 2 dogs while travelling 15,000 miles or so. For the sake of a bit more room in the truck, we thought we would have the dogs in the trailer now and then while on the road.

I'm pretty sure that it is illegal to have a human back there, but what about a pet?

Don't know if it's illegal, and the legality could vary by state or province. But I think it's a bad idea. You'll have no idea how rough a ride the pet is getting, or if there's a problem, or if your pet is terrified.

Yesterday I was taking to the guy in the site next to me and he told me that he rode in the trailer for about 2 miles and said he was surprised that everything in there has not broken by now. Very rough ride.
My home state of Wisconsin allows people to ride in a trailer if they are in communication with the tow vehicle.
I would never ask my cat to ride back there.

Peace
Dave

Climate control may also be an issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In Oregon it is legal for pets and people ride in a 5th wheel. Only pets in a tow-behind.

My son rode in the trailer once for about 5 miles after we got off main road...took our lab with him. Son had a great time...laid on bed and watched a movie on laptop...he also told me our dog was asleep in less than 3 mins. Said the ride was fine and wanted to ride back there all the way home (4 hours)...but that didn't happen.

I would never let anything that I cared about to ride in the trailer.

We put our cat in a cage and put her in the trailer...once. We stopped for a break and went to check on the cat, opened the door to the trailer and immediately new how terrified the cat was. Had to hold my breath to get the cage out and the windows open and not to mention had to clean the cat. Never again.

Ssthrd said:

We will have 3 adults and 2 dogs while travelling 15,000 miles or so. For the sake of a bit more room in the truck, we thought we would have the dogs in the trailer now and then while on the road.

I'm pretty sure that it is illegal to have a human back there, but what about a pet?

Click to expand...

H'mmmm - dogs in the truck with me, human and cat in the trailer and all are happy.

Tried the cat in the truck twice, just twice. He seems to enjoy the trailer, which is good, because if he didn't, he'd have to ride on the roof.

Sounds like an "I don't know, but not a good idea for the sake of the animals" kind of responses. And maybe so...... Aside from comfort/anxiety issues, there are always safety issues I guess.

We have a black Lab that can sleep in a hurricane. Probably depends on the particular animal.

But to the question, does anyone know if it is legal?

Ssthrd said:

We will have 3 adults and 2 dogs while travelling 15,000 miles or so. For the sake of a bit more room in the truck, we thought we would have the dogs in the trailer now and then while on the road.

I'm pretty sure that it is illegal to have a human back there, but what about a pet?

Click to expand...

Hi Ssthrd,
Humans and pets are two different things. To the contrary, last time I checked there are about 14 states in the US which do allow a person to be in a 5th wheel while in tow. Pets and humans are governed by traffic articles on a state level. The laws you speak of are not legislated on a Federal level like the Commercial motor carrier laws. Therefore, these laws are state specific and you will not find one answer to your question. States can have specific laws which can, and in some cases are, different for a truck camper, 5th wheel and TT with respect to both a human and a pet being in them. Many state traffic articles now include and cover pets in one aspect or another. A couple examples of these is confining a pet in a vehicle during weather (like heat) that poses an imminent threat to the animals health, or driving while holding a pet. There is no simple "one" answer to your question. In some cases you will find an act legal only due to the absence of a law. To really confound the topic, each states legislative body updates, changes, deletes and adds traffic laws on an annual basis at different legislative times. In short, what was legal last year passing through a given state may not be this year.

Whether it be a safe practice is a separate argument which may or may not coincide with the law. Your answer is state specific and may only be answered by searching the respective traffic article for the state in which your inquiring about.

Grey Ghost said:

Not a great idea, have you every been in the back when its moving? Horrifying to put it mildly. I would NEVER subject my pet to that. Hook up sometime and get towed around the block, you will never do it to your pet.

Click to expand...

Interesting that some say it's awful while others report it's not bad at all. I wonder what the difference is.....


For me personally, I wouldn't have my dog back there even if I knew it was a comfy ride, he's a mischievous little sh*t and he would probably eat all the food and tear the place up. He definitely needs to be where I can keep my eagle eye on him at all times

There are many livestock trailers on the road but not sure if an RV would be the same.Maybe talk with a livestock trailer manufacturer.

Totally different ride from 5th wheel to most livestock trailers (goose necks) because of axle location. 5er's with axles in the middle or almost middle causes rear to buck up and down. Axles on most goose necks are in the rear area and does not cause the excessive up and down, just the normal bounce of impact on a bump. Much better ride in the goose neck

Laws vary from state to state regarding humans and animals riding in trailers and/or 5th wheels. Check with the individual state you are traveling in.

This thread was eye opening for myself and my wife. We had considered letting our cats ride in the 5er (in crates so they are somewhat contained while traveling).

We are probably rethinking our decision. Thanks.

Being in the truck you will have no idea how miserable your cats will be back in the trailer if they are in cages.
But, I do know of a couple that let their cat ride back there and claim he liked it. No cage though.
Our cat rides in the truck with us. He has free roam but spends most of his time sleeping in his carrier.

Peace
Dave

We have a SxS in our TH....The DW puts blankets in the driver and passenger floorpans for our cats. They stay tucked back into there all hours of traveling.

LBR said:

We have a SxS in our TH....The DW puts blankets in the driver and passenger floorpans for our cats. They stay tucked back into there all hours of traveling.

Click to expand...

As LBR said, however on that trip we only had 3, on this trip we took all 7 yes 7
I put blankets down on the floorboards of the SxS
4 cuddled together on Driverside, 1 in the passenger seat 1 on the passenger floorboard and the other one was under a chair. We checked on them every hour for the 1st part of our leg. And then the last 3 hours we left them along.. We were getting ready to cross the Shasta Dam, Security wants to look in all trailers, I said that's ok but it's not my fault if you get attacked.. We opened the door and only 2 cats were staring at him the rest were asleep.
So far it has been a breeze with them.. Thankfully they were all indoor cats..

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk