Prepare for Fireworks!
- Julie Reisinger, RVT, LATg
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to pets and fireworks. Follow the tips below to keep your furry friends safe!
Make sure that your pet has an ID tag with your current contact info. If your pet doesn’t already have one, talk to your vet about microchipping. This is fairly inexpensive and relatively pain-free for your pet, and is a great back-up in the event your pet’s ID tag goes missing (make sure your chip’s contact info is also up to date).
Make sure your pet is safe and secure. For outside pets and livestock, this means ensuring that fences are tall enough to prevent jumping/climbing out, and that they are strong/secure enough to keep animals confined. For inside pets, this may mean closing them off in a secured area or room, and limiting their access to pet doors and open windows.
Leave your pet at home when watching fireworks. The loud blasts, bright lights, and noisy crowds can cause anxiety and panic in many pets. Even if your pet is leashed, leashes break, you can lose your grip, or your pet can entangle you in the leash, causing injury to one or both of you.
Barbecue Safety: While it’s pretty obvious that you shouldn’t allow your pets near an open flame or hot grill, there are other dangers having a BBQ can present:
Keep charcoal, skewers, and other BBQ implements out of reach.
Remind family and guests that table scraps can be bad for pets.
Some foods are actually dangerous for your pet to consume, and pancreatitis can be a deadly condition caused by an excessive intake of fatty foods.
Vet clinics around the country see an increase of the number of these cases around the holidays from pets getting into human food.
For more info on pancreatitis, here's a great article from the AKC.
For more information on protecting your pet on the 4th of July, check out this article by the AVMA. For other summer safety tips, check out Summer Safety for Pets, as well as our other safety articles!
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