10-year-old girl rode with a dog in a cage in the back of a pickup truck

[Cali_Democrat]

MILLVALE, Pa. May 28, 2013 (AP)

Two parents face charges after authorities say motorists spied a 10-year-old girl riding in a dog cage in the back of a pickup truck in western Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports police say it happened around 7 p.m. Monday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Millvale, just outside Pittsburgh. Authorities say they responded after getting reports from motorists who saw the girl riding in the back of the truck in the cage.

Her mother, 29-year-old Abbey Carlson, and stepfather, 30-year-old Thomas Fishinger, are now facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child. Police say they told them the girl had said she wanted to be with the dog.

Reliable telephone listings for the couple could not immediately be located and it wasn't clear if they had an attorney.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-girl-rode-dog-cage-pa-turnpike-19269237#.UaTzaZwedOI



More here: http://www.wtae.com/news/local/allegheny/police-girl-rode-with-dog-in-cage-on-pennsylvania-turnpike/-/10927008/20324654/-/u3wiiz/-/index.html?hpt=ju_bn4

[cali]

1. what a lame excuse. not that there is a credible one.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

2. You don't think it's the most plausible explanation?

I suspect that there are far more parents who'd accede to a request of that nature from a child than would put a child in a dog-cage for other reasons.

That doesn't mean it's not dumb and reckless, but I don't see any reason to suppose dishonesty or malice.

[cali]

3. I find it hard to imagine that a parent would accede to that wish

[shraby]

5. When I was a kid, we were allowed to ride in the back of the pickup..it was fun!

All the kids would pile into the back and we all got admonished to stay sitting down.

[cali]

10. the kid was in a dog cage. and just because something was once common

and fun, doesn't make it a good idea.

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. I remember those days!

[Just Saying]

34. Same here.

I can remember driving in back on freeways!

But no, I wouldn't let my boys do it now.

[siligut]

8. My parents let me ride in the trunk of our old car

That was in the country, I didn't want to get into the car proper when we hit the city. Though they insisted, as a rear-end accident would be disastrous.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. Take a statistical approach.

Which are there *more* of - parents who would accede to that wish, or parents who would put their child in a cage against their wishes?

I guess the former by a significant margin, although I admit I don't have data to support that.

[snooper2]

14. It could have been legal in Texas...

well, in the cage or out of the cage LOL



SB 399 prohibits children under 18 from riding in the back of a pickup or flatbed truck. There are several notable exceptions, including if it is the only family vehicle or it is a government-sanctioned hayride. (The old law applied to children under 12 years of age, and only if the vehicle was traveling more than 35 miles per hour.

SB 113, which:

Requires children under age 4, or less than 36 inches, to be restrained in an approved car seat. (The old law required car seats for children under 2 years of age.)
Requires all children ages 4 through 16 years old to use seat belts anywhere in the vehicle. (The old law only required seat belts for those 4 through 14 years old.)
Specifies that all seat belt laws apply to trucks (including one-ton pickups).

[sinkingfeeling]

21. Perfectly legal in 20 states which have no laws requiring riders in the

back of pickups. Here's a map of the states and their laws.

http://www.iihs.org/laws/datastoreimages.ashx?documentName=RidingInCargoAreasChart

[Grammy23]

4. I find it totally plausible that this 10 yr. old "wanted to be with the dog". However....

since her so-called parents (caretakers for God's sake) were three times her age and were entrusted with her safety and well being, they should have nixed that plan. A quick "No, dear. It is not safe for you to ride in the truck bed in the cage." should have been their answer. In spite of their probably good intentions of keeping her safe by putting HER in the cage, too, she was most assuredly NOT safe. Her parents should have been aware of this just on the face of it. Perhaps before we hustle this sad excuse for parents off to the pokey, maybe an evaluation of THEIR cognitive abilities should be done. Rather than being "horrible parents" I suppose it's also possible that they are just not that bright and made their choices based on that. Poor kid.

[Cleita]

6. That's a hard one. I spent my childhood riding in the back of my

dad's pick-up with my dog, because I wanted to. We didn't even have a cage, but this was back in the forties, different times with different customs, I guess. No one gave a hoot because their children and dogs also rode in the back of the truck more often than not. This was in a mining camp community so there were very few passenger cars and everyone owned a pick-up. Also, there were no high speed highways and freeways back then so it wasn't as dangerous. If by chance you fell out, most likely you wouldn't be hurt that badly because due to bad roads and often no roads the trucks moved slowly by today's standards. Taking a child or dog in the back of a truck on the turnpike strikes me as very dangerous.

I'm hoping it was a case that the parents were clueless, but not meaning any harm, and won't let it happen again.

[rl6214]

7. Parents need to be put in that cage

For an extended amount of time.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Is it legal for a child to ride in the bed of truck in Pennsylvania? If not, then

this was a 'good' charge. If it's legal, then the problem must be with the cage.

P.S. Not illegal for adults to be in the back of trucks here and I grew up riding in the beds of trucks in Ohio with the dogs or the pigs.

[Bay Boy]

18. It's not to nice to call your siblings...

...dogs or pigs.

[gollygee]

12. I have no doubt that the girl told her parents she wanted to be with the dog

I've had a 10-year-old girl and I can imagine her asking the same thing.

But it's the parents' job to say no. No, it isn't safe.

I don't know where she was going to sit otherwise though. It looked like there were only two seats in that truck, and no bench seat with a space between them. It could be that she didn't have anywhere else to sit.

And yeah, I sat in the back of pickup trucks in the 70s too. Luckily we know enough to wear seatbelts and all that now.

[Bay Boy]

26. I seem to see a seat between the drivers seat and passenger seat...

it looks like this one to me (you can even see the extra seat belt receptacle:

[gollygee]

27. Ah. There's a bit of a seat.

Not very big, but enough space for her.

[siligut]

13. You know there are a multitude of real child abuse cases that need attention

This doesn't appear to me to be one of them. And once the general conditions of the child's safety and welfare have been determined, I hope this is chalked up as a lesson learned.

[bowens43]

15. better in the cage which is clearly strapped down, than the bed of the truck

this may be a case of stupid rather then intentional abuse. If it was intentional abuse, they probably would have covered the cage.

[Eleanors38]

32. In an accident where adults are incapacitated, the child may not be able to exit a cage...

a danger in the event the vehicle lands in water, or is subject to fire.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Here's the Pennsylvania law.....

According to Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code (updated 7/1/09):

§ 3719. Passengers in open trucks.
(a) General rule.--An open-bed pickup truck or open flatbed truck may not be driven at a speed of more than 35 miles per hour if any person is occupying the bed of the truck.
(b) Children.--
(1) Such a truck may not be driven at any speed if a child less than 18 years of age is occupying the bed of the truck or trailer.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(i) a child of a farmer who is being transported between parts of a farm or farms owned or operated by the farmer in order to perform work on the farm or farms;
(ii) a child possessing a valid hunting license who is being transported between a hunting camp and a hunting site or between hunting sites during hunting season;
(iii) a child who is a participant in an officially sanctioned parade, only during the course of the parade; or
(iv) a child employed to perform farm labor who is being transported between parts of a farm or farms owned or operated by the child's employer or employers.
(Dec. 21, 1998, P.L.1126, No.151, eff. 60 days)


http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_riding_in_the_back_of_a_pickup_truck_in_Pennsylvania_legal

[Bay Boy]

24. This one section is a loophole big enough to drive a pick up through...

...&quot ii) a child possessing a valid hunting license who is being transported between a hunting camp and a hunting site or between hunting sites during hunting season; "

Why would it be ok to transport a child in the back of an open pick up truck while 'transport during a hunting season' and not at other times? It is never a safe thing to do.

[sinkingfeeling]

28. Because they have a loaded rifle?

[Bay Boy]

29. Well they probably aren't supposed to have...

...a loaded rifle with them in the back of the truck (or the front of the truck for that matter) but who knows for sure.

[Eleanors38]

33. "...a hunting camp and a hunting site or between hunting sites..."

Presumes slow driving and following normal procedures of not having a loaded gun in a vehicle. Still, I lean in the direction not having a kid in a truck bed.

[dembotoz]

17. well if the back of the truck had airbags and seatbelts....

I always wanted to ride in the back of trucks and I have on occasion.
would assume that the parents will be checked out and if there is no evidence of abuse I would suggest you let them go.

a properly tried down cage was prob safer than just having her loose in the back with a dog.....

[Arkansas Granny]

19. I have to think that this was just an unwise decision on the part of the parents and not

willful child abuse or neglect. I'd be willing to bet they never let her ride back there again.

[bobclark86]

20. The laws...

http://www.iihs.org/laws/cargoareas.aspx

It's debatable if the area was enclosed (which means it would be legal)... the parents might have a case.

[Orrex]

22. The cage is obviously strapped in place. What's the big deal?

That's practically a yinzer limo, for god's sake!

[randome]

23. It doesn't look like there was much room in the bed alongside the cage.

Perhaps the parents were thinking mainly of that?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[NickB79]

25. At least she had a cage around her. I've seen far worse

For example, I saw a pickup truck on I-35 in St. Paul, MN a few years ago doing 50 mph with a loveseat in the bed facing backwards. Sitting on it were three kids, ranging in age from approximately 5 yr to 15 yr old.

To the parent's credit, they did give them a rope "seatbelt" across their laps to hold them in.

They disappeared on an exit ramp as the St. Paul Police operator picked up. I wasn't able to get the full plate number but did give them a description and general heading.

Some people should not be allowed to breed.

[RevStPatrick]

30. I'll bet that was fun for her.

I totally would have done that when I was 10.

We kids used to ride in the back of Grampa's pickup, usually with a couple dogs, up in the mountains in Northern California. A kid or a dog fell out more than once. Everybody always ended up laughing, through the bumps and bruises. If the dogs had been put in cages, I would have had to fight my cousins to be put in the cage with them.

But that was a different time, a different society.
Now, we've become a nation of insufferable pussies...

[Eleanors38]

35. We were cutting and burning cedar on a Texas Hill Country mesa last weekend...

Adult and child rode on the tailgate as the truck pitched and rolled up the jeep trail to reach the top. Potentially dangerous, but the kid was competent and confident.

When as kids in Florida, when our family crossed a river or bay, we were told to unlock the doors in case the vehicle went into water. that old bridge crossing the Matanzas Inlet at Crescent Beach was wooden, and many of the poles supporting it were like stalactites in that they didn't reach the water anymore. Over the years, the load limit on that bridge went from 12,000 lbs, to 9,000 lbs, to 6,000, to.... A NEW BRIDGE!