Keeping Your Pets Safe On Halloween: Tips From The ASPCA
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) Halloween may be the spooky fun for us humans, but it can be down right terrifying for your pets. To help make sure your furry family member is kept safe and stress-free during the festivities, the ASPCA has the following tips:
1. No tricks, no treats: Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also cause problems. If you do suspect your pet has ingested something toxic, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
2. Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets: Don't put your dog or cat in a costume unless you know he or she loves it. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow. Also, if your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, let them go au naturale or don a festive bandana.
1010WINS' Susan Richard reports:
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3. Steer clear of the front door: All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours, and when opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.
4. Always make sure your pet has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and becomes lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip will increase the chance they'll be returned to you.
5. Keep pets away from pumpkins: Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, but they can produce stomach upset in pets who nibble on them. In addition, exercise caution if you add a candle to your carved pumpkin. Pet can easily get burned, or knock it over and cause a fire.
For more Halloween Safety Tips (and some really adorable animals).. check out the Halloween edition of "All For Animals" from 1010WINS' Susan Richard:
(All For Animals is a production of New Day Media and is placed on CBSNewYork.com as a courtesy. Also... both Charlie the dog and the uber-cute kitten in this video have been adopted but there are plenty more wonderful animals awaiting their forever homes at the ASPCA. Check them out at www.aspca.org.)
