New Jersey Voters OK With Requiring Pet Seat Belt Use

The proposal has received some ridicule, but a new poll shows New Jersey voters support the idea of requiring pets to be in crates or safety restraints when they ride in cars.

The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found 45 percent of registered voters in favor of the law and 40 percent opposed.

Assemblywoman Grace Spencer, a Democrat from Newark, introduced the bill in July. People letting their dogs or cats run free in their vehicles could be fined $20.

The poll found just over half of Democrats support it, while just over one-third of Republicans back the idea.

The telephone poll of 901 voters was conducted from Sept. 6-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.