Good news to report: Deuce, the baserunning dog with the Durham Bulls baseball team has been found. He was spooked by a fireworks show over the weekend and ran off. He has been returned to his owner, who has trained dogs to perform at the ball park for several years.
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I doubt very seriously that anyone from the Durham Bulls baseball team has ever read my blog, but maybe they should have. I posted a story last month about how many dogs get spooked by fireworks and run off around the 4th of July. Many of these dogs never make it back home and wind up in shelters or worse. 
Today I came across this story about Deuce, a 1 year-old border collie that runs the bases during Bulls games along with his brother Ace. After the game, the dog’s owner, Gene Lonsway, was putting the dogs in his van when the fireworks show started. Ace was in the van okay, but Deuce was spooked and ran off. As of Tuesday morning he still hadn’t been found. Lonsway says he hopes Deuce ran into one of the nearby neighborhoods and was picked up by a family. The story has gotten a lot of attention in the Durham area, so hopefully it will have a happy ending. I’ll keep you posted. Please be careful if you’re using fireworks around your pets. You never know how it will act when it is exposed to a new situation, especially if it’s stressful. Lonsway is apparently an experienced dog trainer who has been providing dogs for the Bulls for several years, so it can happen to anyone. Here’s a link to Deuce and Ace in action.
Fetch! Pet Care provides pet sitting, dog walking and cat care services for Roswell, East Cobb, Marietta and Woodstock, GA. You can see the happy pets by following us on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/fetchnwatlanta/
Today (July 15) is National Pet Fire Safety Day. The American Kennel Club started the day 3 years ago to spread awareness about how pets can start fires and how to prevent them. Pets can also be victims of fires they didn’t start and preparation can help firefighters to save them. The National Fire Protection Association estimates that 500,000 pets are affected annually by home fires each year. Nearly 1000 house fires are accidentally started by pets inside the home.
The AKC website has some tips to try and reduce the risk of your pet starting a house fire. Most of them are pretty obvious and the first is to not have your pet unsupervised around an open flame. 
One other thing today does is to increase the awareness of the importance to have cling signs at the entrance ways to your home letting fire fighters know how many pets are in your home. It’s best if you can put how many of each type, like 3 cats and 1 dog. If you don’t have these on your home already, they are available at most pet stores. Two links in the AKC article on Pet Fire Safety Day that said you could get free signs from the National Volunteer Fire Council and ADT did not provide that info. If you are served by a volunteer fire department the signs may be available at your local firehouse, but you may want to call them in advance.
You also want to know where your pet’s safe haven in your house is. This is where your pet goes when it’s scared. If you don’t know, or want to double check, test your smoke alarm and watch where it goes. If you can put this on the cling sign, it gives the rescue workers a place to go and they won’t waste time looking for your pets. These seconds could make a difference in them being able to save your pets.
Fetch! Pet Care provides pet sitting, dog walking and cat care services for Roswell, East Cobb, Marietta and Woodstock, GA. You can see the happy pets by following us on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/fetchnwatlanta/
Mike's Pet Tales 