'Fight or flight:' Frantic pets need extra care when the fuses get lit

Some fireworks may be labeled "Safe and Sane," but your dog may be more prone toward insanity when the “rockets red glare” begin rattling the windows in your neighborhood.

Anyone who has been around pets and horses knows that the pops and sizzles, the flames and flashes, and the smell of sulfur and smoke can be overwhelming and frightening for some animals.

For many dogs, when they hear the sound of fireworks, they frantically try to get away, said Nick Cullen, director of Kern County Animal Services.

"It’s fight or flight," Cullen said, "And sometimes flight seems a lot easier, especially when you have four legs."

This week, Kern County Animal Services is waiving all fees through Saturday for those claiming lost pests, because many of those scared animals will end up at the shelter on Fruitvale Avenue in northwest Bakersfield.

"No fees, no fines," said Lisa Richardson, manager of the shelter. "We want your lost dog home with you."

But check all the shelters, Richardson said, including the city of Bakersfield’s facility on South Mount Vernon Avenue and the shelter operated by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Gibson Street.

The folks at the county shelter have heard it all.

“Pet owners say, ‘I thought my property was secure. My dog jumped over a fence’ or ‘broke through a gate’ or ‘dug a hole,'" Cullen said.

To your dog, it may feel like World War III is breaking out, Cullen said. And if there’s a way out they never cared about before, they’re going to find it because they really care about it now.

The week of the Fourth of July is traditionally the busiest of the year for animal shelters that take in strays and lost pets, although the weeks before and the weeks after Independence Day are all part of the same problem.

“I do think, though, there has been, pretty consistent, year after year, a campaign to educate the pet-owning community, like hey, this is a problem,” Cullen said. “Not that it’s not still a problem, but it’s a bit less acute than it was 15 to 20 years ago.”

There are simple ways to make the problem a little smaller, Richardson said.

“Get a Sharpie and write your phone number on the dog’s collar,” she said. “If we have identification, we’ll call you immediately to come and get your dog."

For many residents of metro Bakersfield, the problem of fireworks, especially the illegal kind, has become an issue that spreads far beyond the month of July.

“If it was just a week, between dark and midnight, I could manage it just fine," local educator Jennifer Williams said in a Facebook discussion about the issue. “You'd also think people would be able to not break laws and blow (deleted) up whenever they want, yet here we are. Every day for months.”

For Cullen and company, the annual rush of lost and frightened dogs lands on top of what is already a crisis-level explosion of non-neutered dogs birthing hundreds of new puppies every month.

The county shelter is taking in about 350 puppies each month, he said.

And now, the Fourth of July rush is adding to the already overcrowded conditions at the shelter.

The dogs, the employees and the volunteers could use a break.