Runaway Dogs Overcrowd Nation’s Shelters in Wake of 4th of July Fireworks

Several U.S. shelters reported that this year’s July 5 was one of the their busiest days in years. Shelter workers explained that Fourth of July fireworks made hundreds of dogs leave their homes and desperately seek protection on the streets.

Pet owners are urged to show up and take their dogs home. Shelter managers couldn’t tell why there was a surge in Pet Amber alerts this year. Many residents have alerted authorities after finding stray dogs wandering on their property.

They knew that the dogs probably belong to somebody as they looked well taken care of despite being scared. Some animals were so frightened that they refused to leave their place of refuge overnight.

So, people had to call Animal Control, which took them to a dog center from where their owners can retrieve them. Some shelter workers call these strays “fireworks dogs” since all of them left their owners during Fourth of July loud celebrations.

Shelter employees noted that many of the animals are absolutely terrified when they reach a shelter as if fireworks caused them a shell shock.

Pets that can be easily identified are taken to their owners directly, authorities explain. But fireworks dogs without an ID are usually taken in by a shelter.

Shelters advise pet owners to ID their pets through a tag or collar if they want to avoid the heartache associated with losing a beloved pet. However, pet owners need to hurry up and reunite with their dogs because Fourth of July canines are not treated differently than strays are.

Most shelters keep the animals and wait for their owners to show up for five days. Afterwards, the animals are offered for adoption. Yet, in the case of fireworks dogs there are some exceptions: if the animal is still not adopted after seven or eight days, its owner can take it home.

In Fort Wayne, about 100 lost pets were retrieved from the streets over just one weekend. In other municipalities, at least two dozen dogs were taken to shelters in each city. Pet owners are advised to call the county or city shelter if their dog has run away.

According to some reports, about 40 percent of dogs fall victims to noise anxiety around 4^th of July celebrations. Dogs can also run away if they are scared by loud lightning strike. Experts in animal psychology explained that the condition is a full-fledged panic disorder, which usually triggers a flight response.

Fortunately, the Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first drug to calm down pets in such scenarios earlier this week.

Image Source: Flickr

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Karen Jackson

Karen Jackson has always been passionate about technology. All the way through high-school she immersed herself in computers and web-design. Her ambitious nature helped her become a pro in Adobe Photoshop only by watching online videos and working with the program herself. This is also the program that she mostly uses in the creation of websites at her work-place. Technological innovation and gadgets that push the boundaries of what we are comfortable with have always fascinated her, so expect to see some weird gadget reviews coming from her.