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If you saw this on the highway, you'd call it in, too, right? Motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Monday night say they saw a 10-year-old girl in a dog cage riding on the back of a pickup truck. It's not how we usually transport our children, to say the least. But rather than just drive by thinking, "What the -- oh well, none of my business," motorists called police with a description and license plate number.
And that's how police were able to track down the girl's mother, Abbey Carlson, and her stepfather, Thomas Fishinger. They've been charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Apparently they'd been on their way home from Thomas' mother's house last night. And they had an explanation for why the girl was riding in a dog cage in the back of a pickup. But does it even matter?
Supposedly, the girl wanted to ride with her dog in the back. (There was a small dog in there with her.) Carlson and Fishinger claim the insanely unsafe and abusive-looking riding arrangement was her idea. First of all, yeah right. And secondly, even if it were her idea, why in the name of all that is holy would you go along with it?!? Who hears a 10-year-old girl say, "Mommy, I want to ride in a cage on the back of a pickup truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, please" and thinks, "Yep, excellent idea, kiddo. Let's definitely do that."
People with zero common sense, that's who.
Not that all of us parents don't occasionally wish we could just toss our kids into the back so we could enjoy a civilized adult conversation for once -- but most of us know it's a bad idea. And fortunately, a couple of the motorists last night did, too. It takes caring and courage to call in when you see what could be a case of abuse.
Would you call the cops if you saw something like this?
Image via Andy Arthur/Flickr
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