Is your pet safe in a crash?

Who doesn't love a good car ride? But a nasty car accident can turn into a tragedy without the proper safety precautions!

Every inch of your vehicle, all of its seats, safety belts and features go through comprehensive safety checks, a child's car seat does as well! Your pet deserves the same level of protection.

Don't let your fur baby become a UFA (unidentified flying animal) - verify the safety standards of your pet's carrier or harness and keep them safe on the road!

Buying a Crash Safe Equipment

When shopping for your pet a new travel crate or harness, there are a few things to keep in mind: not all are made alike and certainly not all are tested and fully verified as crash safe!

The different kinds of certification

1. CPS Certification (Center for Pet Safety, US) — the gold standard. CPS is an independent non-profit that crash-tests products itself using a protocol adapted from the US child-restraint standard (FMVSS 213), with weighted test dummies at ~48 km/h frontal impact. Products earn a 1–5 star rating, and certification is per-product and per-size — a certificate for the Medium crate does not cover the Large. Participation in the Center for Pet Safety Certified program indicates a voluntary commitment by the manufacturer to:

• Meet independently developed safety standards.
• Monitor product quality control.
• Make a commitment to truth in marketing.
  • The Center for Pet Safety is stated to not accept funding manufacturers, and works independent of the industry for consumer interest.

2. FMVSS 213 (US child-seat standard, brand-declared). Some brands (Kurgo, Ruffwear) test at accredited labs like MGA Research or Calspan against FMVSS 213 conditions and publish methodology. Real tests — but the brand grades its own homework, so it's a tier below CPS certification. (Canine Cab, Leash Loam)

3. ECE R17 (UN Regulation 17, Europe). The European standard for vehicle luggage/cargo retention. It tests whether a crate stays secured in the load area — it does not test animal-wellbeing inside the box the way CPS does. Swedish MIMsafe (Kleinmetall) markets its Variocage against this, including frontal, rear and rollover claims. (The Pet Bench, Amazon.de)

4. TÜV SÜD certification (Germany). An independent German testing body. The Thule Allax crate is both crash-tested in Thule's own test centre and TÜV SÜD certified — the closest European equivalent to third-party verification for pet products. (Thule)

5. Manufacturer-declared only (weakest tier). "Crash tested" with no named lab, standard, or published numbers. Legally permitted everywhere, meaningful almost nowhere. In CPS's landmark 2013 study, most harnesses claiming crash protection failed catastrophically. (Canine Cab)

Crash Tested Harnesses

• Crash-tested dog harnesses for car safety combine vehicle-grade webbing, reinforced steel or aluminum hardware, and independent safety certifications to protect your dog during sudden stops or accidents.
• Be aware! That true crash-tested, certified safety harnesses are not officially available for cats, as independent safety organizations like the Center for Pet Safety (CPS) note that all official crash-tested pet harnesses currently on the market are designed and rated exclusively for dogs.
• Crash-safe pet harnesses have weight limits that vary by brand and model, with popular certified options generally supporting dogs from 18 to 90 pounds (8 to 41 kg)
  • Saker Bomber Harness
    Size: X-Small, Small, Medium, Large
    Tested: November 2022
    Passed Testing: Yes
    Rating: 5 Star
    Test Protocol: CPS-001-014.01
    Test Number: V25615F
    Test Dog Weight: 75 lbs.

Crash Tested Crates and Kennels

MIMSafe kennels are all "Safe Pet Crate Test" verified

• MIMSafe utilizes RISE (Research Institutes Of Sweden) to crash test their cages.
  • RISE is listed as the only organization of its kind in the world to use a real car body with a standard car interior when performing crash tests.
  • The norm when crash testing pet cages and kennels involves using a flat sled, to which the cage is secured with straps. Thus, most crash tests do not truly represent a real crash scenario.
    • RISE’s Safe Pet Crate Test (SPCT) eliminates the risk of incorrect testing. (SPCT Method)
• Top crash safe kennels available through MIMSafe:
  • VarioCage: a passenger car dog cage, verified with the SPCT Method. It comes in 3 different models with multiple varying sizes for each model;
    • single (A safe and very practical transport crate, which also leaves space for other luggage)
    • double (two pets can sit apart without reaching each other. It can also be used without the divider)
    • compact (if your car has a threshold at the back of the trunk)
• Smaller SPCT Method verified pet carrier Care2 comes in two different sizes:
  • MIMsafe Care2 Medium size
    Pet carrier designed to carry a small dog or cat up to 5 kg.
  • MIMsafe Care2 Large size
    Pet carrier designed to carry a small dog or cat up to 9 kg.
• Large multi-pet carrier MIMsafe MultiCage is a crash-tested, durable, and stackable crate for professional transport. Built for maximum safety and reliability in transportation and has two different size options available.
  • Single: For larger dogs and larger vehicles.
  • Double: For larger dog families and larger vehicles.

Crash-tested products available in Europe

Road trip safely!

The safest dog crate for cars by MIMsafe

Give your dog the ultimate safety with MIMsafe’s crash-tested crates, the safest dog crate for cars, maximum protection in passenger vehicles.

MIMsafe UKSalva

Center for Pet Safety | The Science of Pet Safety®

The Center for Pet Safety is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to delivering unbiased, data-driven research, testing, and education that ensures safer products and a safer world for pets and their people.

Center for Pet Safety

https://www.iso.org/standard/44441.html