Best Friends Animal Society Offers Safety Tips and $17.76 to Help Pets Over July 4th Holiday

By Michelle Sathe

June 28, 2017

Millions of Americans will celebrate the 4^th of July with food, fun, and fireworks. For the thousands of pets that flee their homes during the loud festivities, however, the holiday is anything but a party. Those dogs and cats often end up at a local shelter. For example, in Los Angeles, there is an intake increase of 44 percent from July 2 to July 6 at city shelters.

To help keep your pet safe in the home over the holiday, Best Friends offers the following tips:

Bring all pets indoors whenever neighborhood fireworks displays are likely.
Secure pets in a room and play music or turn on the television to drown out noise
Keep pets away from lit fireworks at all times. Pets that chase after fireworks are at risk to be burned or blinded.
Ensure that pets are wearing current identification tags.
Microchip your pets so that they be can scanned at an animal shelter or veterinary office.
If your pet does go missing over the holiday, check with local animal shelters immediately.
Go to the shelter in person to identify your pet, as staff may not be able to respond in a timely fashion to emails or phone calls.

To help shelter pets find homes, and make space for those coming in over the holiday, Best Friends Animal Society is offering $17.76 adoptions across the country as part of its “Summer to Save Them All” campaign.

The $17.76 special is available at Best Friends adoption centers in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, UT, as well as hundreds of participating No More Homeless Pets network partners across the country.

“Best Friends’ call to action is that by working together, we can save them all. By adopting a pet this holiday, or any time this summer, you’ll play a crucial role in making that happen,” said Marc Peralta, executive director of Best Friends Animal Society in Los Angeles.

$17.76 adoptions are available for any pet over six months at the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center and select pets at the NKLA Pet Adoption Center in West Los Angeles. Both centers are open daily from noon to 8 p.m. Every pet is spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and ready for their new home immediately. To preview adoptable pets, visit www.bestfriendsla.org.

“The July 4th holiday is a great time to bring home a new best friend. Adoption is convenient, cost-effective, and you’re saving a life, which is priceless,” Marc said.

Since 2012, Best Friends has been working with a group of more than 120 coalition partners, including LA Animal Services, as part of its No Kill Los Angeles initiative with a goal of making LA the nation’s largest no kill city by the end of 2017. All pets at the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in Mission Hills originate from Los Angeles Animal Services. Nationally, Best Friends is leading the effort to take the country no kill by 2025.