That Dog in the Bed of That Pickup – Is That Legal in Texas?

I remember growing up we, as kids, were never buckled in the car. Heck, I don't even know if our car had seat belts. It would make it easier for us to nap on long car rides. We would crawl all over the back seat of our cars. Sometimes we would crawl and lie down on the top of the back seats in that window space. We were that cool.

Now there are all sorts of laws. Kids have to be buckled in. Those car seats that babies are in are sometimes hard to figure out. Oh, but they are safe. So we know that these laws are just to protect us.

So our dogs. Do they get the same treatment? I mean, I get it they don't have to be in a car seat or a seat belt. They don't even have to be in a dog carrier when they are riding in a vehicle.

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You will see this all over our great city of Amarillo. Dogs running loose inside of the cars. They love to stick their heads out and say hello at that stoplight at 34th and Bell.

What about those pickup trucks? How many times do you see dogs riding in the back? It doesn't look very safe. Sometimes I worry that one is just going to jump out once they see some stray cat. Maybe they do. It scares me more when I see them in an open truck bed. There is nothing keeping them in. But is it legal? Even if it's not safe.

According to texaslaws.org:

While restrictions exist for human passengers in the bed of a pickup truck, Texas does not prohibit animals from riding in truck beds. But you may want to look into local rules as some cities, like Dallas, criminalize the unsecured transportation of animals

So I looked into whether Potter or Randall County seem to have any laws. I didn't see anything. So ok, maybe it is not illegal but I am still standing by the fact that it is not safe. I will continue to worry for those dogs I see running in the back of that truck bed.