How to prevent shelters by keeping pets safe at home while there are fireworks
To keep pets safe during the holiday weekend, Bissell Pet Foundation is encouraging pet owners to follow five tips to reduce intakes at already overcrowded shelters.
According to the Michigan-based nonprofit Bissell Pet Foundation, which offers advice to people of Michigan on how to keep their pets safe over the holiday weekend, more pets run away on July 4th than any other day.
According to a Monday press release from the group, Cathy Bissell encourages locals to take preventative action by making sure their pets have up-to-date microchips in advance of the rise in shelter intake rates.
Space is limited and shelters are now full, according to Cathy in the announcement. Although a microchip is not a GPS, it will improve your chances of finding your lost pet.
According to data from 24Pet ShelterWatch, July routinely sees the most animal shelter intakes countrywide. As a result of overcrowding, poor adoptions, seasonal high intake of pups and kittens, absence of spay/neuter services during the COVID-19 outbreak, and inadequate personnel, shelters are already in a crisis.
There are too many adoptable pets in the shelter system, and their duration of stay has increased, stressing the staff and the creatures themselves, Cathy wrote in a blog post on April 15. It doesn't matter if they are big, medium, little dogs, puppy or adult, she continued. Due in part to the industry's hiatus on spay/neuter services during COVID, many shelters are seeing a considerable increase in puppies. There are currently not enough veterinarians to catch up. A situation has arisen. Our high intake facilities are receiving hundreds of puppies each month.
The Bissell Pet Foundation urges pet owners to: during the long weekend to keep pets safe.
Pets should be kept inside, in a peaceful area where they feel safe.
Give pets their favorite toy, and make sure they're relaxed by checking on them frequently.
Make that your pet has a microchip with current data.
Make sure your pet's collar and ID tags are fastened securely and never remove them.
Spending more time exercising your animals will help to keep them calm.
The Bissell Pet Foundation initially launched Empty the Shelters at a small number of Michigan shelters. Since then, the occasion has expanded to become the biggest funded adoption event in the nation. More than $7.6 million in direct cash has been given by the events to shelter partners to support pet adoptions to date.
The charity has assisted in placing 96,068 animals through these activities since 2016.
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