Welcome back to Talking Tails!
We were surprised to recently learn that an estimated 500,000 pets are affected annually by home fires. Moreover, nearly 1,000 house fires each year are accidentally started by pets. To draw attention to these startling facts, the American Kennel Club (AKC) and ADT Security Services have been partnering for over fifteen years to raise awareness among pet owners. Annually, they sponsor Pet Fire Safety Day, with this year's set for July 15, 2016.
Buster is all over Pet Fire Safety Day. He has been nicknamed "Mr. Safety" in our house. In addition to his barking and herding behavior when the smoke alarm goes off, he has progressed to anticipating when the smoke alarm will go off - he hears bacon frying in the pan - and tries to move the family out of the house. Just one example of how he always keeps safety in the forefront of his mind. As a side note, he tries to move the family under the kitchen table during a thunderstorm for safety purposes. Joey could give you lots more examples of this type of behavior...always safe when Buster is around!
The AKC and ADT recommend that all open flames be extinguished when your pet is unattended...Buster is thinking candles, fireplaces, stoves, grills. Since we are little dogs, we were surprised to hear that a stove or cook top is the number one way for pets to start fires. We can't even reach our stove's knobs! For safety purposes, it is recommended, and Buster concurs, that stove knobs are removed or protected with covers when leaving your pet alone.
In addition to fire prevention strategies, it is important to keep your pet safe when left alone. Should a fire start by a means other than your pet's doings, be sure that your pets are kept in areas or rooms near entrances, so firefighters can easily find them. We always stay in the family room, right next to the sliding glass doors...Buster sees to this! We have asked our Mom to consider getting a pet alert window cling. She simply has to write down the number of pets in the house and attach the static window cling to a front window. The firefighters will then know how many pets to look for in the event we need to be rescued.
Buster, "Mr. Safety," lives by the adage of "better safe than sorry." Joey can testify that this is implemented on a daily basis in our house!
Talk to you soon!
Buster and Joey
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