July Fourth a good day to keep pets inside, experts say

Pets make great companions on any holiday outing. People love to take their feline and canine friends camping, to the lake and to most family gatherings. But according to Jill Hatfield, director of the Fayetteville Animal Shelter, the best place to keep your pet this Independence Day is at home.





Even though people enjoy the booms and bangs of fireworks, Hatfield said pets don’t understand the concept of the holiday and are very easily frightened by the loud noises.
“ Their hearing is very sensitive, ” Hatfield said. “ And we need to be sensitive to their needs. ”
Hatfield said the shelter sees a large influx in the number of runaways picked up and turned in around the Fourth of July. On an average day the shelter receives 10-14 animals, but around the Fourth, the shelter sees 10-20 more animals than average. These animals, mostly dogs, are running away from the sounds of the fireworks.
“ On July 5 we get a lot of calls saying. ‘ I’ve lost my dog’ or ‘ I’ve lost my cat’, ” Hatfield said.
Hatfield said people should consider keeping pets inside, in a cool area with some nice music or the television on to drown out the sounds of fireworks.
“ Don’t leave them in a garage, in a car or in the back of a truck, ” Hatfield said, “ because that’s just cruel, and they will try to run away when the fireworks start going. ”
Pet owners should also make sure their animals have proper identification and vaccination tags.
“ I can’t stress that enough, ” Hatfield said. “ Make sure animals have rabies and vaccination tags on, that way if they do run away, returning them will be an easier process. ”
She recommends people look into micro-chipping their pets.
“ It’s a very simple process. We do it at the shelter for $ 20, ” Hatfield said. “ We just shoot a computer chip into the pet’s skin with all the information a tag would have, and then if it ever gets lost and a shelter picks it up, they can just scan it and call the owner. ”
Hatfield says there’s also an influx of pets and wildlife hit by vehicles around the holiday. The usual number of animals hit by vehicles is one or two a day. On July 4, Hatfield said it’s not unusual to see five or more hit. She advised drivers to be wary of any kind of animal that is running away from the noises, as they might run into the road.
Hatfield also advised adults to watch children around pets, as there are always reports of pets biting children out of fear of the fireworks.
“ They get scared, and somebody tries to console it, and they get bitten out of fear, ” she said.
Hatfield said children also have the tendency to shoot fireworks at animals, and can be another cause of injuries to pets on the Fourth.
Dr. Jack Herring, a veterinarian at Wedington Animal Hospital, said he sees a lot of mouth injuries to pets around the holiday.
“ Occasionally you’ll see a few who look like they’ve attacked a bottle rocket, ” the veterinarian said.
Herring added that the most common things veterinarians see around the Fourth is people purchasing a lot of pet sedatives.
“ We sell more sedatives this month than any other month to owners who know their pets are afraid of loud noises, ” he said.