Dog Drives Man: New Zealand Trainers Are Teaching Canines to Operate Cars for Some Reason
To help promote the idea that rescue dogs are just as good if not better than the breeder set, trainers from New Zealand's "premiere animal talent agency" Animals on Q have been spending the past eight weeks teaching three abandoned dogs how to drive at the behest of Auckland's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"I think sometimes people think because they're getting an animal that's been abandoned that somehow it's a second-class animal," says SPCA Auckland's CEO Christine Kalin. "Driving a car actively demonstrates to potential rescue dog adopters that you can teach an old dog new tricks."
And to put their confidence to the test, the SPCA will be placing one of the pups — Porter the 10-month-old Beardie Cross — behind the wheel of a Mini Countryman, and letting him drive along a closed track without human assistance.
The spectacle is set to air next week on New Zealand television.
Despite the reservations of some who worry about the dangers inherent in letting a dog drive alone, as one YouTube user points out, "at least they won't text or drink when they drive."
