Pets don't need to celebrate the 4th of July

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The celebration of America's birthday comes with some serious risks for your four-legged friends.

"The big warning is it's not a holiday for your pets. They don't need to be out there watching the fireworks and listening to all the percussions and bangs," said Dr. Chris Dobbins with Fresno Pet ER.

Dr. Dobbins is the medical director at Fresno Pet ER, and he said July 4th is one of the busiest times of the year with people bringing in animals who have been hurt after running away or eating food, drugs or fireworks.

He advises people to contact their vets for medications if needed or buy a thunder jacket and to keep them indoors for the celebrations.

"Put them in a room with a fan, a tv, a radio. Something to distract them. Keep them in their kennels inside if you can because they will run if they're scared," he said. "They can run through glass windows, Jump through doors, somebody opens the doors to go outside to watch it and they go out, now they're going to get hit by a car or attacked by another dog,"

Vets recommend you put identification on your pet.

PawScout is a new company offering a smarter pet tag so you can see where your pet is and also alerts an online community.

"If the worst happens and your pet goes missing, you can create very quickly a digital lost pet poster," said founder Andrea Chavez.

The cost is about $20.

Over at the Central California SPCA, employees are ready to help give your pet a more permanent ID tag -- a microchip. For $10, you can get peace of mind.

"We've had a lot of people come to the shelter to get their animals chipped," said spokesperson Walter Salvari. "We want to see responsible pet owners come to the center and we're open from 10-5 every day, Wednesdays until 6."

The Flores family brought their dog Stella ahead of the holiday.

"We recently lost our first dog. We thought to get (Stella) chipped so we could keep her at least," said Sydra Flores.

The microchip program lasts until July 7.

If you find a missing pet you can take the animal to the Central California SPCA Stray Animal Building starting at 8 a.m. However, if you've lost your pet, you'll have to wait until doors open at 10 a.m. to reunite with your pet.