The Fourth of July barbecue might be fun for your people-loving pooch, but come evening, the loud, high-pitched whistles and booms of fireworks can send Fido running for the hills.
\n“Dogs can panic and they\u2019ll do anything to escape from the noise,” said County Department of Animal Services director Daniel DeSousa. “That includes digging under, climbing over or even breaking through gates, screens, fences, windows and doors.”
\nDuring their wild flight, dogs can get hit by cars, hurt by other animals or become lost. Last year, nearly 60 dogs ended up at County Animal Services on the Fourth of July and the first few days after the holiday. The year before, 67 dogs came in.
\nSome were quickly reunited with their owners because the dogs were licensed and microchipped. If you\u2019d like to get your dog microchipped, you can get one for free from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at any one of the three County shelters through Sunday, July 2. Normally, the cost is $10.
\nAnimal Services also recommends that you register your dog with\u00a0Finding Rover.\u00a0The\u00a0free facial recognition app\u00a0matches dogs\u2019 faces with those that have been lost or found. One time, the app found a\u00a0dog within five minutes!
\nHere are some additional tips on how to protect your pet this Fourth of July:
\nAvoid taking your pet to fireworks displays. Keep your pets indoors in a sheltered, quiet area. Some dogs become destructive when frightened so remove dangerous objects your pet may chew. Leave a television or radio playing at normal volume to keep your pet company while you\u2019re away. Never leave pets outside unattended, even in a fenced yard. In their fear, pets that normally wouldn\u2019t leave the yard may escape and get lost. If you know your pet is seriously distressed by loud noises like thunder, consult your veterinarian to see if anxiety-relieving medication is appropriate. Do not leave your pet in the car.\u00a0With only hot air to breathe inside a car, your pet can suffer serious health effects, even death, within minutes. If you are walking your dog near fireworks displays, be sure your pet is secured on a leash in case it tries to bolt. If you find a lost pet after the fireworks, call County Animal Services\u2019 24-hour emergency dispatch number at 619-236-2341 so the animal can be cared for at the shelter. If you lose your pet, check the department\u2019s lost and found page online and\u00a0Finding Rover.
\nIf you see your dog is at County Animal Services, you can pick up your pet starting at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 5.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Fourth of July barbecue might be fun for your people-loving pooch, but come evening, the loud, high-pitched whistles and booms of fireworks can send Fido running for the hills. “Dogs can panic and they\u2019ll do anything to escape from the noise,” said County Department of Animal Services director Daniel DeSousa. “That includes digging under, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":274538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Microchip Fido for free before fireworks","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}