The Nye County Animal Shelter greeted a number of additional “guests” over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
That’s because many frightened pets escaped their yards to avoid the sights and sounds of fireworks throughout the valley, shelter manager Kristina Siegmund said.
Dog gone fireworks
“We did see an increase in dogs running at large due to the fireworks,” she said. “We successfully were able to reunite many of them with their owners very quickly the following morning.”
A bit of good news
Several neighborhood residents managed to secure the at-large animals in their own yards before contacting officials from animal control, Sigmund noted.
“Fewer animals were found running at large than normal this year, and I was very happy with that outcome,” she said.
Listen up
Siegmund lamented the fact that too many owners don’t heed the warnings about the importance of keeping their pets secured indoors, if possible, prior to revelers lighting the fuses of their favorite selection of fireworks.
“I guess that’s gonna continue, so all we can do is educate them, warn them and give them some tips to help keep their animals safe,” she said. “At the end of the day, it is up to the owners themselves to be responsible.”
She said that dogs are certainly not the only animals that wander off properties during neighborhood fireworks celebrations.
“We did have some cats that have been reported, and even a horse at one point, but I understand that it made its way back home.”
Running out of space, supplies, volunteers
Siegmund said the county animal shelter is at capacity as more animals are being taken in than adopted out. The need for additional community support by way of volunteers and donations is critical.
Dog and cat food items as well as other supplies such as sheets, blankets and towels are greatly appreciated.
“If anybody in the community has extra time to spend as a volunteer, we welcome them with open arms because we are severely over capacity,” she said. “Obviously we want to see an increase of adoptions and a decrease of animals running at large but unfortunately, that’s not the case right now.”
Online assistance
Siegmund reminded owners that they can learn if their pet was picked up by animal control services if found running at large.
“They can come to the shelter and see if their dog or cat happens to be here, but the best resource, especially with this heat, is to check out the website 24 pet connect.com,” she noted. “That is the website where any animal that is picked up by Nye County Animal Control has its photo taken and is listed on that site as a found animal, so anytime during the day or night, people can use their computer or smartphones to check out that website in order to see what animals we have here in the shelter and check to see if one of them could be the one they are missing.”
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On X: @pvtimes