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My Latest Submission to The Great Animal Rescue Chase
Each and every year, despite all of the yearly warnings to pet owners, hundreds of unsecured pets run off in terror because of July 4th fireworks, and many of them very sadly become lost. And July 5th, each and every year, is always one of the busiest days at America’s already overflowing animal shelters because of the vast numbers of lost pets being brought in. Pets and fireworks don’t mix very well, and they never will.
Now imagine the trauma and the terror that is experienced each and every Fourth of July holiday by both America’s wildlife and by animals like feral cats that live outdoors all year long. In my area, the abysmal fireworks booms and bangs go on and on and on for several weeks before, during, and after the Fourth of July. As a pet owner and a pet rescuer, I’ve come to hate this time of year.
About two weeks before July 4th this year, I began receiving calls and messages about three tiny terrified kittens that were running through my own neighborhood, desperately attempting to find some sort of safe haven from all of the abysmal fireworks constantly being shot off. But by the time that I would manage to reach the backyard of the latest terrified kitten sighting, these three tiny street orphans always raced off into the night before I ever got there.
As both an animal lover and a pet rescuer, this was extremely frustrating, and extremely heartbreaking to me. I couldn’t even set up a feeding station or a live trap for these three tiny traumatized kittens because they never remained in one place for very long, and I knew that they were now starving.
About a week after the 4th, I finally got the break that I had been hoping for. One of my neighbors called to tell me that these three kittens were now huddled under the dense bushes in his front yard. I raced out of the house with one of my traps already baited, placed the trap next to his bushes, and quickly retreated.
Within minutes, I saw three tiny starving kittens emerge from the safety of these bushes, and they were headed right toward my trap. One was soon inside, two were soon inside – and just as the third kitten was about to enter my trap, yet another horrifically loud boom went off directly overhead, and this third kitten once again fled into the night.
Thankfully, I now had two of the three kittens safely rescued, and I took them home. But I also sadly knew that I had to somehow catch the third tiny sibling still on the loose before it starved to death.
My break came two nights later when I unbelievably spotted the third kitten race into the bushes in front of my own house. I crept down my front stairs, placed a baited trap beside my bushes, and quickly retreated. Within minutes, the third starving July 4th kitten was caught. When my spouse looked at this last one, she said: “It’s Precious!”
My wife and I have been caring for ‘Precious’ ‘Tiny’ and ‘Midnight’ for more than a week now,
and all three of them are adorable. They are now safe, and sound, and still extremely hungry – they can’t seem to get enough food. They also like to be held and cuddled a lot.
We took them to my vet’s office recently, and all three have thankfully been given a Clean Bill of Health. We will continue to foster them until a local cat rescue organization can take them under their wing. As you can probably imagine, pet rescue organizations all across America are now all overflowing with ‘July 4th cats and dogs.’
Please safeguard your own pets each and every Fourth of July; and please consider both the utter trauma and the absolute terror that both indoor pets and outdoor animals now experience each and every year from our modern day obsession of shooting off fireworks for weeks without end around each and every Fourth of July holiday.
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Web Site:
The Great Animal Rescue Chase
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I'm so glad you got Precious in the end. I couldn't bear for him/her to be left alone out there with the siblings gone, Poor little mite!
Rx
thank goodness i live in rural area, still the whomp of fireworks do sound, but not loudly as in town
some of our abandoned, thrown away, and lost critters cringe, others ignore esp as they age, we are far enough from the whomp that only a really loud blast causes concern
thunder on the other hand is another story even for those inside, they keep looking up at the ceiling to see if the noise, the lightning or the rain is upon them
SPAY is NOT a four letter word
glad you were able to get the tiny mites, sorry i live too far away and have so many .... i would enjoy a kitten or two along with the geriatrics
I've never given it much thought having never heard of animals being frightened by the 4th of July shenanigans. I don't recall my own dog ever being frightened except when a loud thunderclap occurred, much louder than the few fireworks illegally fired around here.
Come to think of it, fireworks seem to celebrate war. I recall the videos of "shock and awe," unleashed on Baghdad. I don't think anyone, or any pet, would ever want to live through that. Colorful lights in the sky, accompanied by music and punctuated by percussion, are delightful and probably should be only celebrated at community events on or around the 4th of July, minimizing trauma to pets everywhere.
Ron