Are There Really Dangers In My Trash?

It’s common knowledge that plastic bags are very dangerous around young children because of the potential for suffocation. They are also very dangerous to your pets for the same reason. Your pet, like a child, might see a plastic bag as a play thing and get tangled in it, only to suffocate.

Plastic bags are also dangerous even to stray and wild animals who search through our trash for food, or encounter discarded plastic bags floating randomly on the wind. A stray or wild animal might get tangled in it and suffocate as he’s searching your trash for precious food.

Here’s a hazard you likely have seen on YouTube–plastic jugs. The wild fox running around blindly with a plastic jug lodged over its head. Without those kind folks having stepped up to get the jug off his head and save him, that beautiful little fox would have died.

Another extremely hazardous item in your trash are the plastic ring carriers that hold your six-packs of soda. Your pet can get one of the plastic rings around his neck and suffocate that way as well.

Is This Really Such A Big Deal?

These are not imagined events–they actually occur. Those of us involved in pet rescue and animal welfare see it too often. Yes–it’s a very big deal. Imagine how devastated you would be to come home from work and find your beloved pet has lost his life on something that could have been easily prevented with just a few seconds of your time.

How Can I Eliminate Hazards In My Trash Without Spending Lots Of Time I Don’t Have?

You can eliminate trash hazards quickly and easily. Before tossing a plastic bag in the trash, and this includes recycled trash as well, take literally 10 quick seconds and a pair of scissors to cut the bag all the way open. If the bag is particularly large, like a drycleaning bag, take another 10 quick seconds to tie a few knots in it too. That’s it–that’s all you need to do. Cut the bag open. Now your pets are safe. You’ve done a wonderful thing for the safety of your pet, and you didn’t have to “carve out” a block of time in your schedule to do it.

Same thing with those plastic soda rings–cut them all open, every last loop. No more strangulation dangers for animals.

Plastic jugs–cut the top off so there’s nothing to grab onto around an animals’ neck should he poke his head inside.

You’re Protecting Lives Now, In The Easiest And Quickest Way.

By this simplest act of kindness that takes literally less than one minute, you’re saving lives. What an amazing good habit to get into. And your kindness will reach far beyond your own home, to other animals who will surely and easily come into contact with your trash. You’re actually protecting animal welfare in your community. And these protective fixes are costing you barely a moment of time and effort. Feels good, right?  🙂

Need a good pair of all-purpose scissors?  Try these: super sharp, all-purpose, disassemble for easy cleaning, come with a protective magnetic shield, and lifetime warranty. Excellent choice.  🙂

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God Bless and Happy Pet Parenting!

With love and good wishes,
jeannie.   ?

About jeannie:  I’ve been pro-actively involved in pet rescue all of my life. I founded Milagro Senior Pet Refuge© (Phoenix) in 1998, and BareFootPets (TM) in 2008.  Animal welfare has always been and will always be my heart’s work. If my only legacy is that I save a handful of precious souls that would not survive otherwise, I’m good with that.

The post Before You Throw That Into The Trash… appeared first on BareFootPets.

Always Harness Your Dog In The Car.

Two reasons. First and obvious is for the safety of the pooch. He’s safely anchored should you have to stop fast. He’s safely anchored and won’t fall out the window if he leans too far. But also think of this: if, God forbid, you’re in a car accident, first responders may not be able to get to you if your dog is loose in the car. If he’s injured and freaked out, he may try to protect you and threaten to bite anyone who comes near. Those precious minutes that first responders have to spend restraining your dog instead of getting you out of the car and to the hospital could mean life or death to you. Pretty sobering thought, isn’t it. Harness your dog–it’s best for both of you.

Jenny-Girl and Tyler Safely Harnessed and Enjoying a Ride.   🙂

If one of your reasons for not harnessing your dog in the care is he’s small and can’t look out the window if you buckle him in, then consider a booster seat.  You can see in the photo that I have a lovely pink pleather booster seat that fits 2 or 3 small dogs together at one time. They can see everything outside and they totally love it! The boosters are lightweight, buckle in and out quickly and easily, have tiedowns to attach your dog’s harness securely, and many have a drawer tucked underneath to store leads and water dishes, etc. So check out these options and pick a nice one for your pooch. Don’t take chances with your pet’s wellbeing, especially when there are such easy accommodations to be used.

Carry A Safety Notice In Your Wallet,

next to your license, that says you have pets at home. The safety notice should contain the person’s name who can care for your pets in an emergency. Again if, God forbid, something happens that you can’t get home, this safety note will alert everyone that you have pets at home. Now they’ll know who to call right away. It would be bad enough that you’ve suffered an event that might keep you from getting home. But it would add an extra element of tragedy to a situation if no one knew to go care for your pets until you could get back home to them.

Post A Notice At The Entry To Your Home,

like right by your doorbell, stating how many pets are in your house. My son told me “Mom, when we get called to a house fire, we have no idea what we’re walking into. We can’t save your pets if we don’t know they’re in there.” Omigosh, critical safety tip! Think about it–when firefighters go into burning homes filled with smoke, they have to feel their way around because they can’t see. Pets are freaked out and would be hiding. Firefighters would never know to look for them if they didn’t have a heads-up that the pets were in there. I went a step further and added our veterinarian’s name and phone to my safety post too.

If any of these situations ever happened to me, had I not prepared ahead of time for the safety of my pets, boy would I feel like scum. Knowing these critical safety tips and preparing accordingly is comforting. I know I’ve got my pets’ best interests at heart.

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God Bless and Happy Pet Parenting!

With love and good wishes,
jeannie.   ?

About jeannie:  I’ve been pro-actively involved in pet rescue all of my life. I founded Milagro Senior Pet Refuge© (Phoenix) in 1998, and BareFootPets (TM) in 2008.  Animal welfare has always been and will always be my heart’s work. If my only legacy is that I save a handful of precious souls that would not survive otherwise, I’m good with that.

The post Safety Tips From A First Responder – Wow, I Never Knew! appeared first on BareFootPets.