Follow these10 tips to help keep your pet safe this Halloween:
1. Guard the Halloween candy. Chocolate and certain sweeteners such as Xylitol can be fatal for pets, so be sure to keep your trick-or-treat stash stored safely out of reach. Remember that empty plastic and aluminum wrappers can be just as dangerous as the candies themselves.
2. If your pet does consume a large amount of chocolate or candy, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center for guidance, at 888-426-4435. The center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A $60 consultation fee may be applied to your credit card. If in doubt, take your pup or kitty to the vet in case medical intervention is required.
3. Don't take Fido trick-or-treating. Many pets can be frightened by unusual sights and sounds that come along with trick-or-treating, so keep them at home for their own safety. Nervous pets can feel very alarmed when kids in costume try to pet them, and this could result in a fear-based bite.
4. Keep pets secured. If you're staying home to greet trick-or-treaters, make sure your pet is secured before answering the door, in case they take fright and try to escape. Use a crate or confine them in a room where they will be safe and calm. Put on the radio or TV to drown out any outside noise that might frighten them.
5. Although you'll likely be busy with Halloween preparation all day, make it a priority to exercise your dog and really tire him out during the day so he can rest during the evening. This will help alleviate any pent-up energy and reduce anxiety.
6. Keep Halloween decorations containing electrical wires or other dangerous parts well out of your pet's reach. Nervousness and anxiety from being outside the normal daily routines can make a pet even more likely to exhibit behaviors such as destructive chewing, so Halloween represents double the risk.
7. A pet-safe chew toy is an excellent way to keep your dog occupied and happy when there are lots of distractions outside or within your home.
8. Keep cats safe, too. Black cats, in particular, can be exposed to increased risks on Halloween if they become the subject of terrible pranks or sacrificial rituals, or stolen as props for the evening. Keeping cats in a spare bedroom or bathroom with access to a litter tray is the best idea to keep them out of harm's way.
9. Be extra-careful with lighted candles or Halloween lanterns. An overexcited or panicked pet can knock over a flame just as easily as a child can.
10. Don't dress up your pet in a costume, unless he or she is comfortable with this form of animal 'humanization.' Many pets feel extremely anxious when made to wear a costume, and an ill-fitting costume can be dangerous if it becomes displaced, causing a strangulation hazard or obstruction of vision, causing panic.
Source: Puppy Tails - Jorvik, 292 Dew Drop Road, York Township, 717-741-9190.
