Steveston Veterinary Hospital wants to raise awareness about pet safety this Halloween season – especially around fireworks.
Fireworks, although illegal to possess, buy, sell or detonate in Richmond, are popular at Halloween.
The sounds and lights are the biggest factors that frighten pets and animals.
“When (animals) hear a big bang, they can actually run away so they will get lost, get hurt and run into traffic,” said Dr. Breanne Galloway, a veterinarian at Steveston Vet Hospital.
She added that the bigger concern around fireworks is when people don’t pick up the debris and garbage left behind and remnants of the powder and paper are in places where pets can easily consume them.
“It becomes an ingestion problem and not a physical injury like if people were to direct the fireworks at the animals, which I hope they don’t do.”
Candies and treats are must-haves for kids and adults; however, they should be sealed and tucked away from pets because of how toxic they are to them.
“Pets can easily get to treat wrappers and consume them, which in turn will cause ingestion problems,” said Galloway.
Other tips for keeping your pets safe this Halloween:
- Keep pets indoors during festivities
- Make sure pets have collars with ID tags on
- Reflective collars and leashes are a good idea when going out
- Have background noise like the television or radio on to drown out fireworks noise
