Welcoming the New Year often includes celebrating with fireworks, noisemakers, loud music, and champagne, which can be dangerous and frightening for our beloved pets. As we get ready to countdown to 2022, LA Animal Services would like to help you prepare for a safe New Year’s Eve with your pets with the following safety tips:
- Keep your pet indoors. Many pets become scared and escape their homes during New Year’s Eve due to loud sounds from fireworks. The best way to keep your pets safe is to make sure they stay indoors and in an enclosed room, if possible. If you allow your pet outside to go to the bathroom, be sure that your gates or fence are secure or that your pet stays on a leash. Loud noises from fireworks can be very intimidating and may cause a scared dog to find the smallest opening in a fence and escape. Even if your pet doesn’t seem obviously upset by fireworks, they can still cause harm to pets by burning them or if accidentally ingested.
- Create a calming environment. While celebrating, it is easy to forget that loud sounds from celebratory poppers or noisemakers can scare your four-legged friend. Creating a safe place in your home, like a room or crate with their favorite toy, will provide your pet a cozy and quiet space, if needed. You can also play soothing music and keep the room as quiet as possible by closing doors, windows and blinds.
- Keep alcohol and people food away from pets. Alcoholic beverages are very toxic to pets. Ensure alcoholic drinks and foods are kept out of reach at all times. Dogs and cats can suffer very serious and sometimes fatal consequences from consuming too much rich and fatty foods, like yeast dough, chocolate, and from just plain overeating.
- Always make sure your pet has up-to-date identification. If for any reason your pet escapes or becomes lost, a collar with a current LA City license and/or ID tag on them and a microchip that is registered with your current contact information, will help reunite you with your companion animal.
- What to do if you and your pet becomes lost. Contact the nearest LA Animal Services Center near you, and let them know that you lost your pet — providing them with specific information about what your pet looks like, and whether they are microchipped and if they are wearing a license or tag. You may also look at our LA CIty Lost and Found Pets Facebook page or at the animals posted on our website who have been turned in to our Centers and might be lost pets.
Here's to a safe and Happy New Year's Eve celebration for all Angelenos and their furry four-legged family members!
For more information on how to keep pets safe, visit laanimalservices.com.
