Poll Watch: Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind New Jersey Survey on Protecting Pets in Cars

FDU New Jersey Poll on Protecting Pets in Cars (Seamus Edition) 

Do you favor or oppose legislation that requires safety restraints or crates for dogs while traveling in a car?

• Favor 45%
• Oppose 40%

Among Dog Owners

• Favor 38%
• Oppose 52%

Among Democrats

• Favor 51%
• Oppose 33%

Among Republicans

• Favor 36%
• Oppose 50%

Among Independents

• Favor 42%
• Oppose 42%

Among Whites

• Favor 39%
• Oppose 45%

Among Non-Whites

• Favor 59%
• Oppose 27%

Would you say it is acceptable or unacceptable for dog owners to carry their dogs in safety crates that are strapped to the roof of their car?

• Acceptable 7%
• Unacceptable 86%

Among Dog Owners

• Acceptable 5%
• Unacceptable 90%

Among Democrats

• Acceptable 5%
• Unacceptable 90%

Among Republicans

• Acceptable 10%
• Unacceptable 80%

Among Independents

• Acceptable 7%
• Unacceptable 85%

Do you own a cat, a dog, both, or neither?

• Dog 28%
• Cat 13%
• Both 7%
• Neither 48%

Among Democrats

• Dog 26%
• Cat 14%
• Both 6%
• Neither 50%

Among Republicans

• Dog 32%
• Cat 13%
• Both 9%
• Neither 41%

Among Independents

• Dog 26%
• Cat 11%
• Both 7%
• Neither 53%

Among Whites

• Dog 29%
• Cat 15%
• Both 9%
• Neither 43%

Among Non-Whites

• Dog 25%
• Cat 8%
• Both 2%
• Neither 60%

Survey of 901 registered voters was conducted September 6-12, 2012. The margin of error is +/-3.3 percentage points. 

Inside the numbers: 

By a narrow margin, New Jersey voters support a proposed law that would require dog owners to put their animal in a safety restraint or crate when in the car. The bill, introduced in the New Jersey state legislature last month, would require that pets not traveling in a crate be restrained by a harness or similar device, with violators subject to a $20 ticket and possible animal cruelty charges.

The bill has been proposed partly to eliminate confusion over whether New Jersey law currently allows dogs to ride shotgun in the car. Earlier this year, officials from the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals held a press conference in which they said that failure to restrain animals would be construed as animal cruelty, subject to criminal fines and penalties. Confusion over the current state of the law also led to the introduction of a rival bill, which would specify that driving with an unrestrained dog does not constitute cruelty to animals.

Still, there is one point of agreement on the proposal: 86 percent of Garden State voters, across party lines, say that it’s “unacceptable” to transport a dog in a safety crate on the roof of a car, as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney admitted doing during a family road trip.