[Photo: CHOTK Facebook]
FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – It’s time for safe trick or treating…but what about your pets?
Front doors open and close frequently on Halloween, so Beth Caffrey from the Central California Animal Disaster Team says make sure all of your pets are wearing tags with current ID.
“The best thing you can do is keep them safely indoors , its not as quite as desperate as the 4th of july but a lot of time costumes and all the things that are going on can scare pets” – Beth McCaffrey, PIO CCADT.
Watch what your pets chews on, such as wires and cords, Caffrey says they can also get sick from candy.
“All of the candy buckets, whether they’re just out for your guests or if you’re trick or treating with them don’t ever put them down and leave them unattended if you have pets, and especially things like peanuts that are embedded in chocolate.” – Beth Caffrey, PIO CCADT.
Caffrey says decorations like fake cobwebs and plastic spiders can be a choking hazard.
Candles in pumpkins can also cause a fire – if pets knock them over.
Click below to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
MORE HALLOWEEN TIPS FOR HAPPY PETS!
It’s almost the scariest night of the year for you and your pet! The CCADT recommends taking preventative steps and precautions this Halloween to keep your pet safe all the way through the celebrations.
- Keep your pets safely indoors, away from trick-or-treaters and other Halloween activities.
- Make sure that all of your pets are wearing tags with current ID. Opening the door repeatedly for trick-or-treaters creates plenty of escape opportunities.
- Keep candy out of your pets’ reach. Chocolate and other ingredients can be toxic to them.
- Most pets arehappiest wearing nothing, but their birthday suit. Costumes and masks can make your pets uncomfortable or even cause injury.
- Decorations can be dangerous. Be sure to keep them safely away from pets. Candle flames can set fire to a pet’s fur. Hanging or dangling decorations can be an entanglement or choking hazard to some animals.
- Use fake cobwebs sparingly, if at all.Pets can choke on fake cobwebs set up indoors. Outdoors, fake webs may be a hazard to birds and wildlife.
- When going out trick-or-treating, leave your dog at home. Dogs can be easily excited by the Halloween commotion and a dog bite or lost dog will quickly end the evening’s fun.
- Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, but they can produce stomach upset in pets that nibble on them.
- A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.
- Wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations should be kept out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet might suffer cuts, burns, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.
