Did you know that 1,000 home fires each year are accidentally
started by pets, and that a whopping 500,000 animals are affected
by home fires every year?*Today is
National
Pet Fire Safety Day
, and we at PetCareRx want to help spread the word about how to
prevent your pets from starting a fire and how to prepare your
home and your pets for the worst -- so you and your four-legged
family members will be able to get to safety.
5 Fire Prevention Tips
1. Check your fire alarm batteries once a month.2. Don't leave
candles or open flames around pets unsupervised. Blow candles out
before leaving a room.3. Don't let your puppy or kitten play with
electrical cords -- they cold learn that this is okay, and
develop a habit of chewing them.4. Don't leave anything on the
stove when you leave the house -- even if you've turned the stove
off, a kitty jumping around the house or curios dog can
accidentally turn a knob and turn the stove on.5. Better yet, get
stovetop knob covers (like ones used for baby-proofing a home) so
your pets can't accidentally turn on the stove.Learn all about
fire prevention in a house with
pets, plus what you can do in a fire
emergency
.To make things even easier, we've boiled down the essentials to
this
Pet Fire Safety Checklist. Make
sure you're prepared!*Fire
Department Network News
Protect Yourself and Your Dog From Harmful Fires
Protect yourself and your dog from harmful
fires
Given their naturally enhanced senses of smell and hearing
compared to humans, dogs make for great guards. But robbers
aren't the only danger that canines can thwart in the middle of
the night.Newsday reported that a sleeping Long Island family was
saved from a
raging fire in Huntington, New
York, by Roxanne, their 5-year-old English bulldog
. According to homeowner Michael Herlihy, they were awakened in
the middle of the night by Roxanne's incessant barking in their
son's room. Once the son was roused, he quickly alerted his
parents to the fire and they fled their home.By the time that
firefighters arrived, the flames had engulfed the first and
second floors of the Herlihy?'s home. With the fire reaching
through the roof, 50 firefighters from Huntington and the nearby
towns of Halesite, Cold Spring Harbor and Greenlawn all helped
fight the blaze. It took roughly 90 minutes to get the flames
under control.While the house may have been left uninhabitable by
the raging fire, the family has Roxanne to thank for no one being
injured.
How fires can affect
dogs
Although they can be saviors during house fires, dogs can be
harmed by the elevated temperatures and flames. Embrace Pet
Insurance explained that canines are susceptible to the same
potentially fatal elements as people, including carbon
monoxide, smoke inhalation and burns.As fires grow, one of their
byproducts is the rapid production and accumulation of carbon
monoxide. Once inhaled, the molecules pass through the
bloodstream and attach to hemoglobin. This could lead to serious
complications such as lethargy, weakness and collapse. If
exposed, pets may need supplemental oxygen to recover.The
development of smoke can be one of the most lethal aspects of
fires. Due to their smaller airways and
lung capacity, dogs are very
sensitive to smoke inhalation. They don't know to crouch
underneath the smoke, leaving them vulnerable to
overexposure. Dogs might even become frantic when trapped in a
fire and pace around, extending the time they spend inside. In
turn, their respiratory rates can climb and increase the
amount of smoke they inhale.This can be extremely damaging to
their lungs, as soot and ash get deposited within the tissue.
With breathing becoming more difficult, pets that survive fires
can still succumb to smoke inhalation days later. The best
treatment is immediate supplemental oxygen, and if necessary,
hospitalization.The best thing to do as owners is keep your house
free of potential fire hazards
. When it comes to wall sockets, try not to overload them with
computer and television plugs. If you're leaving your house for
days at a time, be sure to turn off all of your electrical
appliances and remove all combustible and flammable materials.
Make sure you let your neighbors know that your pets are home if
you go on vacation, and ask if they can take care of them in your
absence.
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