A man has copped a roasting on social media after he complained about being fined for driving down the main street of Bellingen with a puppy on his lap.

Karim Salem was driving along Hyde St, Bellingen on February 9 when he was stopped by a police officer who sighted the unrestrained dog on his lap.

When the subsequent penalty notice arrived, revealing he would lose a minimum of three demerit points and have to pay a total of $464, Mr Salem took to social media.

A key complaint was that the police officer purportedly said he "may or may not" get a fine.

"What a f***ing joke! I get fined $464 and 3 demerit points taken from my licence because I had my puppy on my lap while driving," he said.

The post didn't go down well and within hours there were almost fifty comments with few showing sympathy for Mr Salem's plight.

"So to paraphrase, I broke the law and a policeman doing his job caught me and fined me. Annoying yes, expensive yes, could he have just given you a warning, probably yes, but lesson learned," Lauren Borbeli said.

"Just because you didn't cause an accident doesn't mean your actions didn't put you and everyone else at risk," Leinad Galloway said.

"It's a safety issue. I found out when my doggie decided to crawl under the brake pedal. Could have ended in a disaster. Dog always restrained after that," Johnny Redneck said.

Things took a turn for the absurd when one person sarcastically questioned why having "a couple of goats" on your lap was a problem before another chimed in with the actual law which states a driver must not drive with an animal in their lap and should be "housed in an appropriate area of the vehicle".

But the final word went to Mr Salem himself, who thanked everyone for their comments.

"It has been very entertaining as I'm sure it has been for all of you," he said.