Fireworks, Festivities and Keeping Pets Calm

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Tips from Best Friends Animal Society to Keep Dogs and Cats Happy, Safe, and Home this Fourth of July

(Photo Credit: Best Friends Animal Society) 
Assets: Photos / B-roll 

Ahead of the fireworks, barbecues, and summer camaraderie during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, it’s important to consider how pets may feel amidst the commotion. While the nation’s 250th birthday provides humans with plenty to celebrate, pets may feel differently as crowds, loud booms, and passing sirens can be overwhelming.  
 
To give pet owners peace of mind and set dogs and cats up for success this Fourth of July, national nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society is offering tips to help keep pets at ease during the annual festivities. 

  • Stay calm: Check when local fireworks are scheduled and bring pets indoors beforehand. Set dogs and cats up in a cozy room with closed windows, drawn curtains, and their favorite toys or blanket. Try playing calming music or turn on the TV to help muffle the noise. 
  • Keep it clean: Promptly clear the property of any firework debris if celebrating at home as they contain chemicals and heavy metals that can be seriously harmful if a pet were to get into them. Keep a close eye on dogs and cats during backyard time and on walks following the holiday in case neighbors indulged in the celebrations. 
  • Hold the scraps: While a cookout spread might be tempting to share, many summer staples including avocados, grapes, onions, and ice cream are toxic to pets. For those who can’t resist sharing a treat from the table, try frozen watermelon chunks, blueberries, or baby carrots as safe, pet friendly alternatives. 
  • Tag up: Double-check that the information on a pet’s identification tag and microchip are current before the holiday weekend. Should they get startled and run off, up-to-date contact information will help bring them home. Year round, microchips are essential in helping keep pets and their people together and is  key  in helping the country achieve no-kill*, which means saving every healthy and treatable pet in shelters. 
  • Plan ahead: Pet owners should have emergency contact information easily accessible, or saved in their phone, so if an emergency happens, they can quickly reach out for help. Key contact information to have on hand includes local emergency veterinary clinics and nearby shelters.  
     

Need another reason to celebrate America’s 250th birthday? All adoption fees at Best Friends Animal Society locations across the country are waived June 22-July 5th thanks to Warner Bros Discovery. 
 
For additional information, visit bestfriends.org. 
 
* No-kill is defined by a 90% save rate or greater for pets entering a shelter and is a meaningful and common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress. Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters. For any community to be no-kill, all stakeholders in that community must work together to achieve and sustain that common goal while prioritizing community safety and good quality of life for pets as guiding no-kill principles. This means cooperation among animal shelters, animal rescue groups, government agencies, community members and other stakeholders, all committed to best practices and protocols. 

About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in America's shelters and making the entire country no-kill. Founded in 1984, Best Friends runs lifesaving facilities and programs nationwide in partnership with more than 6,000 shelters and rescue organizations. From our headquarters in Kanab, Utah, we also operate the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary — a destination that brings our mission to life for thousands of visitors each year. We maintain the most comprehensive animal sheltering data in the country and make it accessible to the public — empowering communities with critical insights into the needs of their local shelters and how they can help. We believe every dog and cat deserves a home. And we believe that, by working together, we can Save Them All®.