Just because it’s Monday and you probably need a bit of a lift, we are reposting this viral video of a dog somewhere in Brazil actually riding a motorcycle.
We think it’s the pawfect excuse to paws and smile. It certainly made us laugh as well as make us scratch our heads …
https://twitter.com/klara_sjo/status/1188078803660226561?s=20
How is the dog holding the throttle or has it been locked on somehow?
We doubt this scooter has cruise control!
This video has gone viral with more than 22,000 likes on Twitter.
And why not? We always smile when we see a motorcycle with a dog on board, obviously enjoying itself being out in the wind.
Hounded by rules
However, in 2011 Australian Road Rule 297-3 was introduced to ban animals riding on the fuel tank. It was quickly amended to banning an animal being between the rider and the handlebars because some machines have fuel tanks on the back.
So the mutt in the video would be arrested and thrown in the pound for his scooter riding!
I’ve met a few riders with a dog as a riding companion. There’s John Skinner and his little black dog, Scrambles, who have ridden right across the continent and Anny Seaton on her 1986 Kawasaki Z1300 with her dog Mandy sitting alongside her in the sidecar.
John and Scrambles
Anny Seaton and MandyThe most famous would be Terry “Tex” O’Grady and his cattle dog, Bundy, who has now been retired with a replacement being trained.
“People see you in traffic and they take photos and smile, so we’ve possibly stopped a lot of road rage and saved lives that way,” he says. just as the passenger did in the above viral video.
Tex and BundyTex and Bundy are the only rider and dog in Australia exempt from the rules thanks to Ministerial Declarations because of the charity work they do.
The road rules were changed after a girl was killed in a car crash when she was sitting on the driver’s lap. Tex says the laws were expanded to include animals.
“When they brought it out they should have consulted with the people who it affected – me and the Farmers Federation – but they didn’t,” he says.
Tex tells the tale of a highway patrol officer booking him on his way home from a cancer ride” “He gave us a hard time and made us stand on the side of the road in 35-degree heat until we could get a lift home for Bundy. So I sent out a press release and got some media coverage and eventually the Road Minister in NSW said he could work something out and that’s how I got my first exemption.””
Tex claims several RSPCA bosses ride motorcycles and don’t have a problem with animals on a bike. “But I can’t see them changing the laws,” he says.
“I think a dog is safer in front of you than behind you. If a dog is in the back what happens if you come off the dog? She goes with the bike and nine times out of 10 you are safest away from the bike in a crash. If I have Bundy in front and we crash she comes with me.”
Laws vary around the world, but dogs are allowed to ride in New Zealand.