Fire Safety and Your Pet
Fall is often fire season – inside and out. We should all have an evacuation plan that includes our pets in case of nearby fires as well as preventing fires indoors as we begin to heat our homes for the first time in the season.
Let’s start with prevention. It’s a good idea to have your heaters, fireplace and chimney inspected before the cold kicks in. Use a fireplace screen to minimize sparks and make sure all fires are completly out before going to bed or leaving the house. The open flames of fireplaces, woodstoves and candles may lead to pets unintentionally starting fires so don’t leave those flames unattended and accessible to your pets. According to the National Fire Protection Association, each year more than 1,000 house fires are accidentally started by pets. Electrical wires and cords are vulnerable too, so keep them secured and out of your pet’s reach. The most common way pets start house fires is to lick or chew on stove knobs flavored by spills and kitchen smells thus turning the oven or stove on. If your knobs turn easily, remove them or protect them with covers when you leave.
While stories abound of pets waking their owners to alert them to fire, having plenty of working smoke detectors is a more reliable way to protect both you and your pet. Set up a reminder on your calendar, computer or cell phone to check the smoke detector batteries monthly. If you are away a lot and your pet is home alone, for their safety consider getting monitored smoke detectors; this system sends an immediate alert to a call center letting them know smoke has been detected.
When it gets cold outside, cigarette smokers tend to smoke inside more. Not only does this increase fire hazards but greatly increases pets’ chance of getting cancer. And pets don’t just breathe cigarette smoke, but their fur traps smoke particles and chemicals and they can ingest large doses of harmful substances when they lick their coats. So keep your home and pets safer (and better smelling) by smoking outdoors (or quitting).
An evacuation plan and supplies can prevent a pet’s death or harm if there is a home or regional fire. Identify several safe havens where your pets could be brought and include this information with a copy of their veterinary records to be held by a designated person in case you aren’t available. The list should include someone nearby who could get to – and in – your home quickly, a boarding facility, and friends’ or families’ homes and motels where both you and your pets are welcome.
Keep an emergency kit for your pet next to your own (you have one put together, right?) that is ready to grab along with your pets as you leave your home. Supplies for birds, fish, snakes, lizards and other exotics are more complicated but for dogs, cats, and most pocket pets simply fill a sturdy bag with a pet first-aid kit, pop-top canned food and utensil (cans are more mouse-proof than dry food in bags but any food should be rotated), food and water dishes, soap and plastic bags for clean up, a blanket (works for bedding and scooping up a fearful pet), recent photos (in case you become separated from your pet and need to make “lost pet” posters), photocopies of medical records, a supply of your pets’ medication (again, rotating before meds expire), a calming aid such as Rescue Remedy (good for pets and people) is a good idea as are extra leashes for dogs and if possible have a carrier or crate for each pet and always: enough bottled water for all. For cats, you’ll need litter (or even paper towels) and aluminum roasting trays are good disposable litter pans, and a pillow case is good for keeping an agitated cat, rabbit or pocket pet safe during transfer. Many of these supplies can be gathered affordably at the Community Closet.
At all times (yes, even right after a bath!) pets should wear a collar and tag with up-to-date identification. If you don’t have an identification chip implanted yet, make an appointment with your Veterinarian to implant this humane and permanent ID. Just make sure your current address and phone are registered with the chip company. Your contact information should also be on your pet’s carrier.
Always bring pets indoors at the first sign or warning of an outdoor disaster. If the danger is inside, put pets outside in their crate while you grab things and evacuate. Pets can easily become disoriented and wander away from home during a crisis.
Keep warm, cozy and SAFE this season with your pets; the safest personal heaters around!
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