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Tips to keep pets safe on Halloween

For some, Halloween is the best time of year, but for others, the loud noises and shadowy figures lurking in the night can be traumatizing including our four-legged companions.
Halloween pet safety

For some, Halloween is the best time of year, but for others, the loud noises and shadowy figures lurking in the night can be traumatizing including our four-legged companions.

The BC SPCA has a list of suggestions to keep your pet as calm and safe as possible on Halloween night. Although it might be a cute photo, the SPCA recommends not dressing up your pet, keeping them inside and making sure their identification tags are up to date.

Ryan Voutilainen, the animal shelter manager for the City of Delta, added to this advice saying pets should be kept in a quiet room of the house with their favourite toy to keep them occupied.

Voutilainen also suggests dog owners take their dogs out for a walk earlier in the evening, so they can be more relaxed when trick-or-treaters come knocking.

For the particularly easy to frighten pets, Voutilainen suggests owners speak with their veterinarians about medications that can be administered a few hours before Halloween night so the pet can be more comfortable.

Voutilainen says that in recent years the amount of calls he has received about missing pets the days following Halloween night has gone down.

“People are more and more cognizant of their pets emotional and welfare needs and how they react to these types of circumstances,” he said. “During COVID-19 a lot of people are working from home and are recognizing a lot of these anxious and fearful behaviours in their pets, a lot more than they used to.”

Voutilainen also recommends pet owners have an emergency plan set up for pets and to have the emergency veterinary contact readily accessible just in case your furry friend does ingest something harmful.