Halloween Pet Safety Tips

Halloween is a fun community interactive holiday. Humans have fun dressing up and trick-or-treating but your pets may become spooked with altered appearances and the increased activity outside of your home. Here are some tips and tricks for a fun, safe Halloween.

Keep pets inside and away from trick-or-treaters. Sometimes trick-or-treaters are around for the tricks and not the treats. Keeping your pets inside keeps them safe from the tricksters. To keep your pets safe from the treaters coming to your door for candy, choose a quiet room away from the front door. Play soothing music and put them in the room with their favorite blankie and/or toy. Keeping your pet away from the front door helps to make sure they don’t run out the door when trick-or-treaters stop by for candy, and the music and having something like their favorite blankie with them will help keep them calm.

Keep candy out of reach and don’t forget about wrappers! Some pets are more curious than others and a seemingly okay spot for the Halloween candy may still be in reach for your inquisitive pet. Countertops, coffee tables, end tables, and the spot where children pile their candy to look over what they’ve collected have a high chance for pets to get into the candy. Chocolates and sugar-free candies can be problematic with ingredients that are especially harmful to pets. AND don’t forget about the wrappers! Leftover wrappers can still entice your pets as what they think may be a tasty snack. Swallowing wrappers can become logged in pets throats and can cause intestinal disruptions.

Be careful with costumes. What we might think it is going to be REALLY cute, but your pet might have another idea. If they seem unhappy don’t dress them up. Steer clear of masks in general. They obstruct your pet’s vision which may cause them to act irrationally and defensively. Before Halloween try a dress rehearsal, that way you’ll know whether how they feel in advance. If they end up not thrilled, try a bandana.

Remember to properly ID your pets. Properly ID’ing your pets is a precautionary action in case your pet does make it out your door. Proper ID’s include collars with tags that have your up-to-date information on them and a tag with your pet’s microchip number on it. Phone numbers fit nicely on tags and providing more than one will increase the chances of someone being reached when your pet is found. Having a tag with your pet’s microchip number on it will alert the person who finds your pet that your pet is indeed microchipped which Veterinary offices and animal shelters can scan to find your information. Need to microchip your pet? HSNEGA’s Healthy Pet Clinic offers microchipping for $20 per pet and all adoptable rescues have a microchip as well!

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Some of the information from this blog was sourced from:

https://bestfriends.org/resources/halloween-pet-safety-tips

https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-care/halloween-pet-tips/

https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/top-5-halloween-safety-tips-vets-and-pets