Fireworks cause pets to runaway from home

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI)- July 5 is often the busiest day of the year for animal shelters.

Fireworks displays scare pets and often send them running, looking for a safe place to hide.

Most pet owners try to keep their furry friends calm and safe when the fireworks start popping. But sometimes those precautions aren’t enough.

On the day after fireworks, many pet owners find themselves looking for their furbabies.

Every year shelters get ready for the Fourth of July aftermath.

Four-legged friends can get spooked from the fireworks and take off. Sometimes they can’t find their way back home.

So far, this year is a little different.

“This year we’ve been surprisingly thankful that we’ve only had like two so far and we’ve been checking the Facebook pages and everything, and there’s only been a few that have been missing. I’m hoping now with social media and everything you can put all the warnings out ahead of time and hopefully, people are learning from past years,” said director of Columbus Lowndes Human Society Karen Johnwick.

Even if you take precautions, some fur babies still manage to run away.

Kennedy Phillips is one of the owners out searching for her beloved dog.

“They scared her she wasn’t expecting it because we had the screen open on the balcony just so we could let some of the heat from the cooking out and it was kind of cool last night, so it was a nice little mixture in the house but when she heard them she, she took off,” said Phillips.

When a pet gets spooked, reaching out for extra help can make all the difference.

Johnwick said social media can be a big help.

“There’s a bunch of different pet pages ‘Columbus Pets Lost and Found’ ‘When It’s Rough’ each county pretty much has their own Facebook page but definitely post on there and also contact your local shelter and report with them, so they will have it also listed in their book,” said Johnwick.

Phillips hoped her pup, also named Kennedy, finds her way back home.

“I’m just gonna keep searching I just have no choice it’s my dog I’m not gonna give up on her I just keep calling her name and going by the fence, and stuff, where she was last, was seen at, but she’ll come home,” said Phillip.

If you find a missing pet Johnwick said to take it to your local humane society, post the pet to social media, or call animal control.