Thankfully, serious road traffic accidents are not a common occurrence, so it’s not often that we’re able to report on the strength and performance of our dog crates in a real-life accident with real dogs and their owners. However, we recently received grateful thanks from a dog owner following a distressing incident in which a dog, Hera, a German Shorthaired Pointer, was able to walk away unscathed.
Hanna, the owner, and Hera, were travelling very early in the morning at dawn in June this year when the accident occurred. The car flipped, landing on its side with the driver’s door facing down towards the ground. Hanna had to crawl out through the passenger door of her VW Passat Alltrack.
“Once I got out of the car, my nerves were really on edge in those few seconds until I made my way to Hera’s cage. It was completely quiet back there and I was expecting the worst.”
But once she caught sight of her beloved Hera, she was filled with relief.
“There were so many thoughts going through my head, and then I saw her eyes. She was alive! I am so grateful we chose MIMsafe’s VarioCage model. We made the choice because of its ability to withstand impact from all directions and this is exactly what happened when the car flipped. Once again, we are extremely grateful.”
The VarioCage worked exactly as it should. The inbuilt deformation zone compressed inwards to absorb the impact and protect the dog. We know from our crash testing that the less space the dog has in the cage in a collision, the safer the dog. The deformation zone of the crate also works in tandem with the deformation zone of the vehicle, unlike most other brands of crate currently available.
“All our crash tests are conducted with the Safe Pet Crate Test method, making us unique among cage makers,” says MIM Construction’s CEO Gert Olofsson “These tests are carried out in actual car bodies so we can really see how our cages will perform in a crash. We also conduct further extensive testing to ensure that the cage is as safe as possible, so we feel intense relief that owner and dog are safe, but also a sense of pride when we can see that the cage has done its job in protecting Hera and the rest of the family.”
The cage’s other safety systems also worked properly and once the rescue team arrived, they had to remove the crumpled rear hatch to get Hera out.
“Making sure that cage parts don’t come loose in a collision and that rear-seat passengers are safe has been a primary focus in our development work,” Gert Olofsson adds. “The built-in deformation zone in our VarioCage prevents serious injuries to those travelling in the rear of the car, both from cage parts penetrating through the back seats, as well as parts above the rear seat causing injury to the neck, all for the safety of both people and their dogs.”
“Hanna’s neck pain after the accident was gone after a week or so, and Hera was examined by a vet who determined that she had no injuries at all.
Both Hanna and her partner are now looking forward to long Autumn walks with Hera.
“What a wonderful feeling it will be to walk with Hera after what happened,” says Hanna. “We’ve come closer to her after the accident and want to get out as much as we can with her now.”
For more information about our range of fully crash tested dog crates, guards and tailgate guards, please visit our shop.
