Pets are so important to many of us. We love to go for long walks with our dog, or sit on the couch watching Netflix with a purring cat in our lap. It is important to us that they stay safe and out of harms way too.
Did you know that July 15th is National Pet Fire Safety Day?
Remember to include your fur babies in your family emergency plan in the case of a fire. The statistics are staggering. Each year more than 500,000 pets are affected by house fires and 1000 of those fires are started accidentally by the pets themselves.
Here are 3 tips to help your furry friends stay safe:
- Pets may accidentally start a fire in your home from open flames. Never leave a candle burning on your counter unsupervised or a lit fireplace either. Also, when it comes to the kitchen, put covers over stove knobs and discourage climbing. This can help keep your pet from accidentally filling the house with gas from hitting a dial on the stove.
- Your pets may be enticed to chew on loose wires so make sure that wires are secure and out of reach of your pets.
- Don’t use a glass bowl for water on the deck. The sun can actually cause the bowl to heat up enough to start a fire.
First and Foremost be sure your family decides together on an emergency plan that includes your pets.
Practice this plan with the whole family so everyone knows who does what in the case of an emergency.
Know all your pets hiding spots in case they are scared and hiding. This will make it easier to search if you need to in an emergency.
If you are unable to quickly retrieve your pet or are not home at the time of the fire, a way you can notify others that there is a pet inside is by putting a sticker in your home’s front window indicating the number and type of pets you have. This helps firefighters searching for your pet if they need to.
Be sure the contact info on your pets collar and the microchip is up to date also so if they escape they can be found again.
Another way to ensure if you are not home that your pet has time to be saved is to have your smoke detectors connected to emergency response services to in the case of a fire, help can still be signaled for and dispatched.
If you can’t find your pets and need to get out of your house, as much as you may not want to leave them behind, you may have to. Leave the door open behind you and call for them once you and your family are at a safe distance away from the fire. Don’t ever endanger your family while looking for your pets.
Here at John Scott Insurance Agency, we want to be sure you are covered in the case of an emergency. Let us review your policy to make sure that you have the right coverage in the case of an emergency.