Southern Oregon Humane Society says the day after the 4th of July is one of their busiest, because many pets escape their homes when scared off by fireworks.
“Every year we expect it, we get larger amount of phone calls, voicemails and people coming in looking for lost pets or having found a lost pet,” said intake supervisor and coordinator at So-Humane, Estrella Cervantes.
She says since the 4th of July, there have been 15 calls, multiple voicemails and a few walk-ins with people inquiring about lost pets.
She suspects more lost animals will be turned into the humane society in the coming days.
“Of course, if there’s a name tag with updated information that’s the first thing we’ll do, and we’ll microchip scan the dogs also,” Cervantes said.
Local dog owner, Lindsey Blesse, discovered first hand how fireworks can startle your pet and scare them away.
“Timber’s not home, he’s not here and so next minute you know, we started looking for him and searching for him and couldn’t find him,” Blesse said.
Blesse says she and her husband went to a barbecue and left their dogs outside in a fenced area.
When the couple returned home, they found out their Bernese mountain mix was missing.
Luckily, though, he found his way back home.
“At 3:30 in the morning my husband goes, ‘Hey, timber’s home.’ I go, ‘What?’ and so we go to the backyard and flip on the lights and he’s just staring at us. Once the noises stopped he came home, and we are so grateful he did. We’re very blessed,” said Blesse.
Cervantes says anyone who may have lost a pet and isn’t sure where to look should reach out to local shelters.
“My suggestion is always look up online or call one of the shelters you’re aware of and find out what they would suggest to do,” Cervantes said.
The humane society also encourages anyone with a missing pet to search local lost and found Facebook pages.
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