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Summer Alert! The Dog Days of Summer Mark a Peak Season for Pet Troubles and Trauma

–Top Tips from 24PetWatch™ to Keep Spot and Fluffy Safe This Summer– 

Toronto, ONTARIO – July 12, 2005. Summertime has arrived and with it comes barbecues, family vacations, fireworks and trips to the cottage. While most people look forward to these activities, our four legged friends unknowingly enter a season chock-full of danger. Most pets will wander off at least once in their lives and the chances are, between vacations, thunderstorms and fireworks, that the family pet has a greater chance of getting lost, hurt or sick during the summer season. With less than a quarter of pets rescued by shelters returned to their families, a pet without identification has little chance of making it home. Now, just in time for summer, 24PetWatch, Canada’s leading provider of pet microchip identification and pet recovery programs, presents The Summer Pet Safety Guide with top tips for keeping your pet safe during the summer months.

The Summer Pet Safety Guide

• Keep your pet cool. With the mercury rising pets are at an increased risk of heat stroke. Never leave your pet alone in a parked car. Even with the window open a crack, a car’s temperature can reach the mid-thirties in a matter of minutes. If you plan to be outside for an extended period of time, make sure your pet has a shady place to sit and plenty of cool water to drink. Try to walk your pet in the morning or evening when the sun is at its lowest.

• Keep your pet away from loud noises . Summer fireworks and thunderstorm scare pets and often cause them to run away. If you suspect a storm is coming or a fireworks display is about to start, bring your pet indoors and let them stay in a quiet room where they feel safe.

• Keep a watchful eye when pets are on vacation or on a day trip . If a pet is not in familiar surroundings they can wander off and get lost. Vacationing pets don’t have time to adjust to new locations or identify landmarks and can easily become confused.

• Make sure that your pet has a collar, leash and external identification: Always keep your pet’s collar on. The collar should have a tag clearly identifying the pet. Tags that work together with a full recovery program including a microchip and extensive database work best. When you take your pet for a walk keep them on their leash. Pets can get startled or just curious and run off.

• Have your pet microchipped. While identification tags can provide useful information they can fall off a pet when it runs away or becomes lost, leaving owners vulnerable to losing their furry friend forever. Only 17% of lost dogs and 2% of lost cats* are reunited with their owners, in most cases, pets with proper identification are the only ones that make it home. Approximately only 5% of pets are microchipped. By having a 24PetWatch microchip implanted into a pet, owners will have the security of knowing their pet will always be identifiable, moving their pets into the percentage that safely make it home. The 24PetWatch program is Canada’s most widely used microchip program by clinics and shelters. 24PetWatch’s recovery service and database is operational and fully staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Store your pet’s medical records on a comprehensive database that links to the identification number on a pet’s microchip. Once a pet has been implanted with 24PetWatch microchip, make sure to sign them up for 24PetMedInfo to keep track of their medical records. 24PetMedInfo is a central record of a pet’s medical info that can include chronic medical conditions, allergies, special food requirements, vaccines and medications. This information can be accessed via the Internet once a microchip number and password have been entered. Pet owners are always given their pet’s microchip number for their records. This number is also located on the pet’s 24PetWatch tag. Pet owner’s can access their pets medical records at a moments notice, helping owners better manage their pet’s health. If an emergency occurs this information can be relayed to clinics and shelters if a pet owner has pre-authorized release of the records and registered for 24PetMedAlert.

• Give your pet a voice. A pet’s inability to communicate for themselves can sometimes cost them their life. If a pet is lost or hurt and an owner cannot be reached, much needed information will not make its way into a caregivers hands. Pets with a microchip can be registered for 24PetMedAlert. 24PetMedAlert is like a medical alert bracelet for pets. 24PetMedAlert gives pre-authorization to disclose the pet’s 24PetMedInfo to veterinarians or shelters should a lost pet turn up at a facility. In a lost pet emergency this service could mean the difference between life and death for a dear friend.

• Make sure your pets have a secure area to play in. Always keeps gates locked, check fences for holes and objects (like a trellis) that can help a pet escape.

• Check your pet’s medical records to insure they are taking heartworm prevention medication. Heartworm disease is spread by mosquitoes; with bites being commonplace during the summer months, pets are at an increased risk to contract this disease. You have probably already had your pet checked for heartworm but don’t forget to give your pet its monthly medication. If you have signed up for 24PetMedInfo keep your pet’s heartworm records listed on the database so you don’t forget.

• Protect your pet from flea and tick bites. Bugs like the warm summer months, keep your dog bite-free with flea and tick treatments recommended by your veterinarian.

• Give your pet plenty of playtime and exercise . Pet owners often become so busy during the summer months with their own playtime, they forget about their pets play and exercise needs. If pets become bored they will find ways to entertain themselves and this can result in pets looking for ways to escape.