4th Of July Fireworks: 5 Tips To Keep Pets Safe

While the Fourth of July is a time for lighting up the sky with beautiful fireworks, the noise that accompany the enormous showers of multicolored lights, ends up scaring pets all across the U.S., often causing them to hyperventilate, run away from houses or worse.

“The Fourth of July can be a really big deal to pets because of the fireworks and noises they don’t encounter on a normal basis,” Liv Hagen, behavior modification manager at the Animal Humane Society, said, CBS Minnesota reported.

Although fireworks on Independence Day might not have the same effect on all kinds of dogs, it might have a detrimental effect on certain canines. “It all depends on the dog but you gotta be careful extra careful around the 4th,” Beth Glommen of Golden Valley, Minnesota, a dog owner, said. “It can have reactions all the way from excessive panting and drooling all the way to hiding and not coming out.”

In this context, Beth recalled her eight-year-old dog, Jasmine, getting scared from the sound of fireworks. “She just hides because of the noise,” she said.

So, since it's hard to get away from the sound of firecrackers on the day, the following are some tips that can be used to keep their pets safe on Independence Day.

1. Try to avoid going outdoors with your dog as much as possible, especially as the hour of firework ceremony draws near. If your dog is trained to urinate or poop outside the house, make sure to plan this accordingly, so that they don’t coincide with timings of the fireworks.

2. Also, your pets can get scared even when they are inside the house, especially if your house is not fitted with sound proof windows and doors. Hence, it is always best to leave them in the company of some calming tools during the noisy time. In this regard Hagen suggests using the “thunder shirt” that fits dogs perfectly or pheromone releasing collars and sprays.

“You can actually plug in a diffuser in the room that your animal is going to spend time in in that scary event,” Hagen added.

3. Also, important to remember is to keep your pet on a leash at all times during the fireworks ceremony. This way, even if the pet happened to find its way out of the house and into your neighbor’s house, it can easily and quickly be restrained. If possible fit your pets with a microchip so that they can easily be tracked if they happen to go missing.

4. While you might think that it is good idea to put your pet dog or cat in a kennel before you go out to watch the fireworks, animal experts do not think so. According to them, it is always better to leave pets in some comfortable corner in the house so as to give them more space to roam around in case they need to calm themselves from the noise outside, according to the Animal Humane Society.

5. If you happen to spot a stray dog without any identification, get in contact with the Animal Care & Control Center.

All of these measure will help pet owners avoid what Ariana Rathburn of Sacramento had to go through when her father's pit bull, Lala, got so afraid of the fireworks she broke through a backyard fence. By the time her family tracked the pet dog down, it was too late.

“[The kids at the park] said one was hit on Truxel Road," said Rathburn, NBC affiliated WKYC reported. “[My dad] immediately sped over there. Someone had wrapped her and put her to the side... he's taking it really tough."