Los Angeles, December 30, 2022 – Welcoming the New Year often includes celebrating with fireworks, noisemakers, loud music, and champagne, which can be dangerous and frightening for our beloved pets. As we get ready to countdown to 2023, LA Animal Services would like to help you prepare for a safe New Year’s Eve with your pets with the following safety tips:

• Keep your pet indoors. Many pets become scared and escape their homes during New Year’s Eve due to loud sounds from fireworks. The best way to keep your pets safe is to make sure they stay indoors and in an enclosed room, if possible. If you allow your pet outside to go to the bathroom, be sure that your gates or fence are secure or that your pet stays on a leash. Loud noises from fireworks can be very intimidating and may cause a scared dog to find the smallest opening in a fence and escape. Even if your pet doesn’t seem obviously upset by fireworks, they can still cause harm to pets by burning them or if accidentally ingested.

• Create a calming environment. While celebrating, it is easy to forget that loud sounds from celebratory poppers or noisemakers can scare your four-legged friend. Creating a safe place in your home, like a room or crate with their favorite toy, will provide your pet a cozy and quiet space, if needed. You can also play soothing music and keep the room as quiet as possible by closing doors, windows and blinds.

• Keep alcohol and people food away from pets. Alcoholic beverages are very toxic to pets. Ensure alcoholic drinks and foods are kept out of reach at all times. Dogs and cats can suffer very serious and sometimes fatal consequences from consuming too much rich and fatty foods, like yeast dough, chocolate, and from just plain overeating.

• Always make sure your pet has up-to-date identification. If for any reason your pet escapes or becomes lost, a collar with a current LA City license and/or ID tag on them and a microchip that is registered with your current contact information, will help reunite you with your companion animal.

• What to do if you and your pet becomes lost. Contact the nearest LA Animal Services Center near you, and let them know that you lost your pet — providing them with specific information about what your pet looks like, and whether they are microchipped and if they are wearing a license or tag. You may also look at our LA CIty Lost and Found Pets Facebook page or at the animals posted on our website who have been turned in to our Centers and might be lost pets. 

Here's to a safe and Happy New Year's Eve celebration for all Angelenos and their furry four-legged family members!

For more information on how to keep pets safe, visit laanimalservices.com.

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LA Animal Services promotes and protects the health, safety, and welfare of animals and the people who love them, and is one of the largest municipal shelter systems in the United States. With six Centers across the City, LA Animal Services serves approximately 60,000 animals annually and responds to 20,000 emergency calls involving animals or people in danger. LA Animal Services is part of the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) international coalition, joining 38 municipal shelters and animal welfare organizations across the country to reimagine and transform the way shelters care for animals and their families, by offering access to resources to help keep families together; getting lost pets home quickly without having to enter the shelter system; providing food and medical assistance; and continuing to build on a strong adoption and foster program so pets find their permanent homes or are placed in foster care. Visit our link.tree for helpful links to the services and resources available to you and your companion animals. Connect with LA Animal Services and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.