Dane County Humane Society offers tips to help prepare pets for 4th of July fireworks

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Dane County Humane Society offers tips to help prepare your pet for the fireworks this weekend.

4th of July fireworks can be fun for us, but many pets don’t like the bright lights and loud noises that come with fireworks.

DCHS is urging pet owners to take extra precautions, such as bringing pets indoors and ensuring they wear a collar with identification.

“Make sure you remove them before the fireworks start. Exercise them, get them outside, let them do their thing because they might not want to go out after the start,” said Lisa Bernard, DCHS Public Relations Coordinator.

Once they’re inside, you can close the shades or blinds in the room they’re in, turn on the TV or music to help drown out the noise, and keep interior doors open to let them go. in a quieter room, if necessary. .

If you have a new furry friend in your family, you may not yet know how they will react to fireworks. In that case, you might not want to leave them alone just yet.

“You might want to stay home with them and just watch the fireworks from your window or on the TV and kind of watch how they’re doing and see their reaction,” Bernard said.

Because pets can easily be spooked and run away during the high stress of fireworks, DCHS recommends putting an identification collar on pets. Bernard said they are seeing a slight increase in reports of missing pets during fireworks season as they are either brought to an event, outside in a yard, or off leash when they hear a loud noise and run.

“So having your pet with ID on them makes it much quicker to reunite them with you once they’re found,” Bernard said.

Also, if your pet is microchipped, make sure the chip information is up-to-date so that if your pet is found and the chip is scanned, DCHS can contact you more quickly.

Bernard said a pet could be under significant stress when their panting increases, their ears prick up, they look scared, and they start pulling on a leash or looking for a way out. . She said pets have much more sensitive hearing than humans, which is why loud noises cause them more stress.

“You just have to find a place where they can feel safe and away from that noise,” Bernard said. “In a home that they love where they feel safe, where they feel safe – it’s very helpful for them because it’s soothing.”

If you are separated from your pet, you can search for it here. If you find a lost animal, you can report the found animal here.

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