More dogs are lost on the 4th of July than any other day of the year

Fireworks aren’t the only thing that ‘goes off’ on the 4th of July, it’s also the number one day of the year that dogs run away and get lost.

“Before we open we usually have a line of people here to reclaim their animals, which is good, we definitely want to get them out, the sooner the better. That way we can get some kennels that get emptied out and stuff like that,” said Idaho Falls Animal Shelter’s, Angelica Vargas.

Most of them don’t run away intentionally. What tends to happen is that fences will be left open during barbeque’s, or fireworks will scare dogs kept in backyards so bad that they’ll hop fences and leave trying to find some peace and quiet and before they know it, they’re lost.

“They get incredibly terrified, and they run off, they end up going somewhere else, the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter gets incredibly packed with animals because so many animals are getting loose on that day,” said Snake River Animal Shelter trainer, Colby Voronovich.

“It’s definitely been super busy, one of our busiest days. I think we’ve reclaimed within the hour about fifteen-ish animals.”

The new trend in lighting fireworks not only on Independence Day but also weeks surrounding it has forced shelters to adjust.

“Before, a couple of years back, we would just plan for one night of the year for our animals and everything else, now we have to plan a couple of weeks ahead and after.”

Every year the statistics of dogs that get lost on the 4th of July are high and the best way to plan ahead in case your dog is ever one of them is to get them microchipped.

“Microchip your animals, that helps us tremendously when we can find the owners and give them a call as soon as possible that their dog is here so that they can go home right away.”

After microchipping, the best thing to do for your furry friend during the 4th of July season is to,

“Make sure that your dog is always in a quite safe environment, make sure that you leave on the TV, a radio, different things like that, and always try to do training beforehand to make sure that your animal is well taken care of.”

Even though the 4th of July has passed, this is something to keep in mind since fireworks are set off days after the holiday as well.