South Dakota Supreme Court Rules on Driving With Cats

Last summer, a woman was pulled over in South Dakota for driving under the influence ... of cats. Patricia Edwards was living in her car with her 15 cats, who she says were well cared for. The cats were seized and impounded, with the daily cost of their care running up a tab. Edwards tried to get them back before they were adopted out to other homes, but the court denied her request based on the grounds that she had no way to pay the shelter back for their care. The case was appealed all the way up to the state supreme court.

In the end, the case wasn't about possible hoarding issues, or whether seizing the pets of someone who can't afford a home and then charging them for it is the best way to handle a situation like this. Instead, the state's top court focused on the dangers of driving with cats.

According to the majority opinion, the court smacked down Edwards' argument that her personal property (the cats) had been seized without a reason. They said the seizure was indeed justified because, with 15 cats wandering around the car, "beyond the unsanitary aspects of the situation, it presented a significant safety risk to the public."

The court went on to explain why Edwards posed such an imminent public threat. "Because of the cats in the back window, Edwards failed to see the patrol car behind her and nearly backed into it. What if, instead of the officer's patrol car, a less visible child on a skateboard or bicycle had passed by at that same moment?"

The dissenting opinion said, "If safe operation of the vehicle was the concern, the police should have addressed that issue," and not turned it into an animal cruelty case. But how separate are the issues of safe driving and animal protection when there's an animal in the car?

Driving around with one cat on the loose is dangerous enough. There are any number of ways that a cat can cause a serious distraction in car, leading to an accident. Or, he could end up under the driver's feet, getting in the way of brake and gas pedal function. Or he could, as in Edwards' case, block visibility. Since Edwards' was pulled over when she was backing out of a parking space, the biggest danger was to those around her. But if any of these other scenarios had occurred when she was on the road, it could have resulted in a collision that put her and the cats in danger. And she had 15 distractions-waiting-to-happen in her car.

There are a lot of issues with that many cats living in a car. But when it comes to you and your one cat, driving with him running loose isn't a question of animal cruelty, it's a question of common sense. It's not safe for you or other drivers, and it's not safe for your cat. Animals are just as susceptible to injury in a crash as we are — even more so if they aren't restrained. Besides, your average doesn't love riding in the car, which means he's more likely to stress out. He may not love being in his carrier either, but at least you're both a little safer if he's buckled in for the ride.

Photo credit: Jacob Davies