Keep Your Pets Safe On the 4th of July

When celebrating the Fourth of July with your four-legged friends, be sure to consider their safety when watching fireworks or sharing food from the grill. According to the ASPCA Animal Control Center, here are some ways to keep you pets safe on Independence Day:

• Do not take your pet to watch fireworks. Pets could get burned by fireworks. Even unused fireworks can be dangerous as many types contain toxic substances. Pets do not enjoy the noise from fireworks and loud crowds.

• Keep citronella candles, insect coils and oil products away from pets. If your pet gets a hold of citronella candles or insect coils and ingests them, it could hurt their stomach and may even cause central nervous system depression. Inhaling oils could cause aspiration pneumonia.

• Use pet-safe sunscreen and insect repellent. If you want to apply sunscreen or insect repellent to your pets skin, be sure that it is safe for animals. The bottle should have a special label. Pets will get sick if they ingest regular sunscreen.

• Keep matches, lighter fluid and alcoholic drinks away from your pets. Matches, lighter fluid and alcoholic drinks can poison pets and make them sick. Some matches contain chlorates that could damage to blood cells. If ingested, both matches and lighter fluid could result in difficulty breathing. If pets drink alcoholic beverages they could go into a coma or become depressed. 

• Keep glow sticks and jewelry away from pets. If ingested, the luminescent substance contained in glow sticks or glow jewelry could cause excessive drooling and gastrointestinal irritation.