Maryland SPCA: It's Best To Keep Pets Indoors During Fireworks Displays

BALTIMORE(WJZ) — With more than 100 big fireworks shows scheduled in Maryland during the next few days, pet owners know this can be a challenging time.

Mike Schuh reports there are things you can do to comfort your pet.

To make these fireworks displays be so big and go so high, they use a lot of gunpowder to launch them into the sky.

The bigger the shell, the bigger the boom.

It is a night where pets can be confused and scared.

"The Fourth of July can be a scary time for animals with all the activities, but the fireworks especially annoys and frighten them and they can run away," said Aileen Gabbey, Maryland SPCA.

Shelters across America report that on July 5 and 6 they get a lot more people coming in to turn in dogs.

"There are fireworks in lots of communities, even backyards, so there's plenty of noise. It's best to keep pets indoors," Gabbey said.

Before the fireworks go off, get your pet into a room where you can close the door.

"You can set him up with a bed, his favorite toy, turn the radio or TV on to hopefully drown out the noise and just safely ride it out," Gabbey said.

There is a product on the market widely available called the "Thundershirt." It's said to make the animal feel comforted.

The inventor was just on WJZ's Morning Edition segment Coffee With.

"The way a Thundershirt works is it just applies gentle, constant pressure around the torso of a dog or cat like swaddling an infant," said Thundershirt inventor Phil Blizzard.

"It's almost like a wrap," said Gabbey. "Thundershirts can provide comfort for their animal during the fireworks."

Bottom line: bring Fido or Fluffy inside.

They may not like the sounds, but they'll survive.

It's not recommended that you hold your pet when the explosions are happening because they will become conditioned to being held during times they find stressful.