HAMILTON - The 4th of July can be seen as a fun weekend filled with family fun, barbeques, and fireworks. But the weekend can also be more stressful for our four-legged friends, pets like cats and dogs.
Pets to some homeowners can be seen as a four-legged children, and there can be panic when a pet runs off and gets lost. The Bitter Root Humane Association is offering a low-cost microchip and tag clinic to help reunite families with their furry friends this holiday weekend.
“So on July 4 more pets than any other go missing and that’s national statistics are about 30 % we see an increase in lost pets," Bitter Root Humane Association president Lisa Allison explained. "This is the second chip and tag clinic that we’ve done, and we’ll be doing it again this Saturday from 12 to 3. The first 100 ID tags are free from a generous sponsor and the microchips are $10 each."
Microchips can be costly in an average vet setting, and they’re typically distributed like a regular rabies vaccine. This clinic is meant to help those who are in a financially hard situation to have this service done. But why does this holiday cause the most cases of missing pets?
“They’re hearing is much more sensitive than ours is. So if we think it’s loud, they think it’s tremendously loud and because it's coming from all directions it can be disorientating," Allison said. "They're not really sure where to go,” Allison explained.
To help pets feel more comfortable, keeping your pet at home and in a quieter environment could relieve some of the stress that loud noises can bring.
“So we suggest that people have a quiet room in their home, bathrooms are typically rooms without windows or very small windows so that’s a great place to make a safe space and play some music if you are going to a July 4th event, our suggestion is that you don’t bring your pet. As fun as it is for you, that’s how much it's not fun for them,” Allison said.
When a pet comes into the Bitter Root Humane Association the first thing they look for is some type of identification for the animal so they can get home to their loved ones as soon as possible.
“Any time that a pet comes into us the first thing we’ll do is check for a microchip or some sort of identification [so] that we can try and get them back to their people. If that doesn’t work, they go on what is called a stray hold and they stay with us, we post on social media platforms...[with] a picture and any identifying marks and hopefully, somebody sees them and says hey that’s my pet,” Allison said.
If your pet does go missing you can check the Bitter Root Humane Association Facebook Page and Instagram account.
