This Halloween lets keep our pets safe. Halloween is a time when our pets have a greater chance to escape from us. The top Halloween hazards for pets are escaping and being poisoned. Both animal shelters and veterinarians see a spike in their business during the Halloween season.
Make Sure to follow us on Facebook.
Below we have a few pet safety tips to keep our furry family members home this Halloween.
Tips for keeping them safe at home:
- Before the trick-or-treating starts, put your pets in a quiet room where they will be safe from all the Halloween activity. The constant opening of the door for trick -or-treating gives them opportunity to escape while you are distracted.
- Even if you are just having friends over for a Halloween party, keep your pets away from the festivities in their safe room. Masks and costumes change how people look and smell to a pet, so even familiar people may become frightening.
- When going out trick-or-treating, leave your dog at home. Dogs can be easily excited by the Halloween commotion, and a bite or a lost dog will quickly end the evening’s fun.
- After you’ve let your pets out of their safe room, place treats safely in a high cabinet secured with a lock or child-safety latch. Many foods, such as chocolate, gum and xylitol (a sweetener used in many foods) are hazardous to them.
- Keep treats away from your children unless you are observing them. Children may make the harmful mistake of sharing with their four-legged friends.
If you want to take your pet out trick-or-treating:
- Make sure they are micro-chipped, the chip is registered and your information is up-to-date.
- Make sure they have a good collar on with their tags(license, rabies,etc.)
- You can get them a GPS collar to wear just in case they get away.
- Make sure they are wearing something bright and reflective so at night people can see them.
- NO RETRACTABLE LEASHES!! With all of the kids and parents running around you won’t have the control you need to keep the close by and safe. Also retractable leashes break very easily or slip out of your hands.
What do I do if my pet gets out during Halloween?
- First thing is DO NOT YELL THEIR NAME!! When you yell their name they can sense the tension in your voice and they will think they are in trouble, so they will most likely run away.
- DO NOT CHASE after them. Running after your dog will certainly cause them to run away from you. Best thing to do is grab a smelly treat and get down on the ground, do not make direct eye contact, wait for them to come to you and if you try to speak to them talk softly and in a high voice. You have to remember that a lost pet does not take the time to see who is coming towards them they just think predator and run away.
- If your dog leaves your immediate area, inform your neighbors to be on the lookout and to let you know if they see your dog, but advise them of the tips above. Most people generally want to help, but they tend to do all the wrong things first.
- Refrain from sending out search parties because if an animal sees a bunch of people coming at them it is very intimidating and they may flee farther away.
- If you live near woods and you know a bunch people with quads or side-by-sides that say, “we will go searching for you.” BAD IDEA!! The noise they put off is loud and scary to a dog.
- If your cat gets out, most cats do not travel far so check under porches, decks, cars, bushes, anything they can hide under. Also ask your neighbors to check their yards as well.
- Visit our Facebook Page and PM us the details of your lost pet.
Tips for posting lost pet information on Facebook:
Facebook can get the word out about your lost pet very quickly, but it is important that you have the right people helping you. Untrained help can hurt the situation. When posting please add all the above tips such as DO NOT CHASE, DO NOT YELL their name. Instead ask people to please Private Message you as the owner with sighing information. Never post sighting information, because some people will go out trying to help and not listen to our tips and make the situation worse.
Following the advice of a trained pet recovery specialist may literally be the difference whether your loved pet makes it back home or not.
For more information on lost pet behavior or a directory of trained missing animal individuals or groups visit https://www.missinganimalresponse.com
