Pet Fire Safety Day
July 15 has been designated as National Pet Fire Safety Day. Keeping all family members safe in the event of a fire is so important, and pets should be included in the planning. This is also a great day to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors!

Here are a few tips to help with your planning:

• Determine which family member will be responsible for each pet.
• Know where your pets hide! This may be the first place they go if there is a fire.
• Plan to bring your pet’s carrier when you evacuate the house.
• Put a window sticker on a door or window near the front with the number of pets you have in the house. You can find these at pet stores or shelters. It will help the rescue team know to look for your pets.
• If you have to leave your home and go to a shelter, you will most likely not be able to bring your pets with you. Ask someone in your family or a friend in advance if they can keep your pets for you in case of an emergency.
• Pets can be the victims of a fire, but they can also be an unintentional cause. The National Fire Protection Association estimates that nearly 1,000 house fires each year are accidentally started by homeowners’ pets.

The dark side of summer heat

Even on days when it doesn’t seem that hot, it is hot enough to harm people and pets.

Pets in cars becomes a hot topic (please pardon the pun) every summer. An Iowa woman was charged with animal neglect in  June, after leaving her dog and cat in an unattended vehicle. Even at 11:30 in the morning, the temperature in the car had reached 125 degrees!

Heat is especially dangerous for brachycephalic dogs (those cute, smash-faced breeds).

Remember, exercise yourself and your dog in the cool of the morning or evening, not during the heat of the day!

Two more heat-related dangers:

• Water in hoses that sit in the sun can get very hot, to the point of scalding
• Pavement also gets hot enough to burn paw pads! If it is too hot for you to walk barefoot, it is too hot for your dog!

Please, please respect the heat.

4th of July!

The 240th celebration of our Independence is upon us! Seems like the bicentennial was just yesterday…

We will be closed on Monday, July 4th, in celebration of the holiday.

Remember, fireworks are not pet-friendly! Even when shot off somewhere else, the noise can be very frightening. It’s one of the main reasons that more pets are lost on July 4 every year than on any other day of the year. Make sure your pets are wearing their collars, and that your contact information is updated with your microchip company. Take a picture for good measure, so that you have a recent one to post on social media (whether they get out or not)…

Even fireworks that are not used are dangerous to pets – they can contain oxidizing agents, as well as heavy metals to make those pretty colors. All of these are potentially harmful if ingested, usually causing gastrointestinal signs like vomiting or bloody diarrhea (but other problems, like liver disease or seizures, are possible).

Lit fireworks can cause burns to the lips, mouth or nose, cause eye irritation, or even burn hair & skin.

Please, be careful around fireworks! Do your dogs a favor, and keep them safely inside.