Heading into the Fourth of July, Multnomah County Animal Services wants to remind animal lovers to take extra care of their cats and dogs when fireworks are shooting off in the days ahead.
Any explosion can frighten animals to the point that they run away. And last year during the first week of July, the county’s shelter experienced a 20 percent increase in intake of cats and dogs, compared to the first week for previous months.
Dog intake alone climbed more than 40 percent in the first week of July 2011.
“This is a time when the shelter gets more lost animals than usual because they’re frightened by holiday fireworks,’’ said Mike Oswald, director of Multnomah County Animal Services. “But there are a few basic steps anybody can take to make this a safe holiday for our community’s animals.”
If possible, animals should be kept inside and in a room without windows, Oswald said.
Another key step that pet owners can take to lessen the chance of losing their animal is to make sure the animal is licensed with a tag that has identifying information.
And anybody who finds a pet with a license can go online to Multcopets.org to look up the owner by clicking on “Lost & Found.”
Contacts
Mike Oswald, 503-988-6233