Firework Safety For Pets

Here at Epic, we are dedicated animal lovers and have our share of cats, dogs and other small animals in our care both at home and the wildlife on site here at Tankersley. We have quite the menagerie living on site including a family of stoats which go white in winter with a little black tip on their tails, magpies, rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs and water hens (yes, we have a large pond at the back of the site which plays home to the water hens and a colony of Great Crested Newts).

In a recent conversation with the local representatives of the Cats Protection League, we were horrified to learn of the number of feral kittens that they receive calls about that have been badly burned in Bonfires so it is not just hedgehogs you need to check your Bonfire for.

As in the past, if you are having a Bonfire Night event with a fire to keep everyone warm, please remember to stack the wood and combustible materials beforehand, checking carefully for feral kittens, hedgehogs, mice and rabbits.

This Bonfire Season remember the golden rules:

• Keep your dog/cat indoors with a drink of water and a deep bed or perhaps an old duvet (in case they foul it) for them to hide in.
• Walk your dog whilst it is still daylight
• Put on the TV or radio to drown some of the noise from fireworks
• Draw curtains or blinds wherever possible to keep the flashes hidden
• Bring hutches with rabbits or other small mammals inside and cover with a blanket to keep the noise as low as possible and provide extra hay or bedding material for them to burrow in.
• Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a dog be allowed at a display as even if they are not gun-shy (or do not react to fireworks) and are OK around crowds, a big display could have any number of tiny babies and toddlers that may be distressed and screaming which will upset your pet, particularly if you have children yourself
• Thundershirt – this is a patented design product which applies constant pressure to a dog’s upper body which has been proven to keep them calm. If you don’t want to go to the expense of buying one (they range from around £15 for a toy dog to around £50 for a Labrador sized one), if you get a wide crepe bandage (long) and bind your dogs chest area, it lowers anxiety and helps your dog to feel more secure.
• If your pet is of a particularly anxious nature, you could contact your vet for some DAP or Dog Appeasing Pheromone plug in. You just plug it in the room where your pets are and leave them to remain calm.

Be mindful of letting your neighbours know if you are having a Bonfire or Fireworks display on a day other than the 5^th November so that they can keep their pets in and safe too.