Pet Safety for Halloween

Even though Halloween is a fun time of the year, it also brings with it some hazards to your pets. Here's a quick guide on how to keep your pet safe at Halloween.

Whilst you might have a great deal of fun at Halloween, it is important to spare a thought for your pets too. There's a number of hazards and dangers to pets at this time of year so it's important to keep your pet safe.

Candles

If you are planning on lighting candles around the home to enhance the Halloween theme, you must remember to keep them out of reach of pets. Think hard about which places are best to have candles and ensure they won't get knocked over.

Any naked flame is a real danger if there's pets around. Even if it's not because you pet gets too close to it, a candle can always blow or fall over. The fur of most pets is very easily singed, burnt or ignited.

To be extra safe at Halloween, you could use battery operated imitation candles instead.

Costumes

It's becoming more and more popular for pet owners to dress up their pets at Halloween. If this is something you will be doing, it's important to read the instructions and guidance that come with the costume.

Dogs, and other pets for that matter, can sometimes be very unhappy if subjected to a Halloween costume. If they aren't happy in fancy dress, your pet may become stressed and erratic. If your pet doesn't seem happy in their Halloween costume, simply remove it.

Some pet Halloween costumes have loose parts that dangle of fixtures and fittings that are easily nibbled off. Be sure to check the Halloween costume and use your common sense when deciding if it's safe or not.

Have a look at our recommended range of Halloween costumes for dogs. Remember to be safe!

Hide the treats!

If you've got a big bowl of candy, treats and chocolate for trick-or-treaters, it's important that your pets can't get to it. Some of them may have wrappers which a pet will easily choke on. Besides that, they won't do your pet any good if they do choose to have a quick feast.

Also, remember that chocolate can be toxic to both cats and dogs.

Keep pets safe

If there's going to be a lot of fun, noise and running around like lunatics in your household, your pet might not take too kindly to the Halloween commotion. many pets have sensitive ears and don't like a stressful environment.

If things are going to be chaotic at home, either tuck your pet away safe and sound in a separate room or use a gate or enclosure to keep them away from the busiest parts of the house.

If you are going to be opening the door a lot for trick-or-treaters, just remember your pets can easily escape!

Outdoors

It might be quite hectic and scary for animals if your street is busy with people trick-or-treating wearing spooky costumes. Your dog might be quite unsettled by this if you pop out for a walk. Make sure your dog is on it's lead or even do an extra walk the following day to avoid the ordeal.

Halloween is always great fun, but spare a thought for your pets too. Enjoy!