July is Pet Fire Safety Month: Are You Prepared?

July is Pet Fire Safety Month and a perfect time to review home emergency plans with the family and discuss how they include our pets. Emergencies can happen anytime and the best way to deal with any situation is to try and be prepared. Below are a few ideas to help with the preparations.

• Make sure your smoke detectors are installed properly and have a power supply. Check those batteries!
• Know all the places your pet likes to hide and take naps. Animals in distress can be more difficult to find and get a hold of. Have a plan for corralling them after you’ve found them, be it a crate, leash, etc.
• Have an emergency plan. How will the family get out of the house in case of fire? What does that look like for the pets? Perhaps a pet door is part of your fire safety plan. Practice your escape routes and meet up points.
• Get a “Pet Alert Sticker”. These are stickers that go in the front of your home, on the front door or in a front window, and will let people know you have pets in your home, what types and how many. It also has the name and number of the veterinarian.
• Keep your veterinarian and local pet hospital’s numbers readily available, just in case you need them. You might want to keep both as contacts in your phone.
• If you are unable to return to your home, have a plan for the pets. The ideal situation would be to take them with you. You have both been through something traumatic and are going to need each other’s support. Sometimes that just not possible though. If the hotel won’t accept pets, see if your vet can recommend a kennel or if a friend or relative might be able to help.

While we can’t keep emergencies from happening, we can be prepared. Practicing pet fire safety and fire safety for our families creates peace of mind. We at PlexiDor Dog Doors would like to encourage everyone to have a plan to get out of the house in case of an emergency and to stay safe.