Arlington, TX

Halloween can be fun for our kids, but our fur babies don’t always fare so well. It can be a stressful time for pets with trick-or-treaters ringing the doorbell and walking by the yard dressed in scary costumes. There are always a few pranksters out there who steal or kill pets on Halloween night. The ASPCA has a few tips to help us keep our pets safe and make Halloween less stressful on our furry friends.

• Don’t leave your pets out in the yard on Halloween. Pranksters have been known to tease, injure, steal, or even kill pets.
• Trick-or-Treat candy is not a treat for pets. Remember, chocolate is poisonous to a lot of animals and wrappers can be hazardous if swallowed.
• Be careful of pets around a lit pumpkin. It could be knocked over and cause a fire.
• Don’t dress your pet in a costume unless you know he loves it. Otherwise, it puts a lot of stress on the animal.
• If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn’t constricting, annoying or unsafe.
• Be careful not to obstruct your pet’s vision. Even the sweetest pet can get snappy when they can’t see what’s going on around them.
• All but the most social dogs should be kept in a separate room during trick-or-treat visiting hours. Strangers in strange garb can be scary for a dog.
• Be careful your cat or dog doesn’t dart out through the open door while you hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Remember, it’s up to us to make sure our pets feel safe on Halloween and every other day of the year. Following these tips can help.

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