National Pet Fire Safety Day 2024: When & How to Celebrate
Updated on
If you’re a pet parent, you probably celebrate pet-related holidays as a way of supporting your beloved animal. Although there are numerous important holidays that pet parents should know about, one in particular stands out: National Pet Fire Safety Day.
National Pet Fire Safety Day is celebrated on June 15 and is dedicated to raising awareness about pet fire safety and teaching owners how to implement the best practices in real life.
Read on to learn more about the history of this holiday, what it represents, and why it’s important and to get tips on how to keep your pets and homes safe from fire hazards.
Why & How Do Pets Start Fires?
Pets unintentionally start fires because they’re not aware of all the dangers that could occur. Although there are various ways for a pet to cause a fire, a few of the most common ones are:
- Chewing on electrical cords
- Knocking over heaters
- Accidentally turning on the stove
- Getting too close to open flames, such as candles, fireplaces, lamps
The History Behind National Pet Fire Safety Day
The American Kennel Club (AKC) launched National Pet Fire Safety Day back in 2009 because pets are the cause of many fires in households across the world. The AKC created this holiday with the safety of pets and pet owners in mind.
National Pet Fire Safety Day teaches us pet owners how to be more responsible and how to keep us and our pets safe in case of danger. The main purpose of this day is to educate people about the potential fire dangers when pets are left at home unattended and how to prevent house fires caused by pets. It involves doing various things in your home to ensure your pet’s safety, such as removing certain items to including your pets in an emergency escape plan.
Why Is National Pet Fire Safety Day Important?
Most people who have pets consider them as part of the family. Therefore, we need to keep them safe and protected, which includes knowing the possible fire risks that they could cause and what we can do to reduce the chances of incidents.
Per the American Veterinary Medical Association, around 500,000 pets every year are affected by fires, while 40,000 pets die in fires every year.
Since pets are common reasons for fire incidents in households, pet parents need to raise awareness about this problem and help others learn how to keep their pets out of trouble.
How Do People Celebrate National Pet Fire Safety Day?
Since National Pet Fire Safety Day is not your typical holiday, it doesn’t have an ordinary celebration. This day is supposed to raise awareness about pet-caused fire hazards and how to prevent them, so most celebrations are directly connected with fire safety.
- Installing/Checking the smoke alarms — You can use this day to install smoke alarms or ensure that all smoke alarms in your home are functioning properly if you already have them. Functioning smoke alarms are essential in every home with pets because they can alert you of a fire and give you and your pet enough time to escape.
- Educating family and friends on pet fire safety — Use this day to spread awareness about pet fire safety and educate your friends, family, and neighbors on the importance of keeping pets safe.
- Creating an emergency plan that includes your pet — Every household should have an emergency plan in case there’s a fire hazard. Use this day to make an emergency plan, including your pet and the routes that you can access to ensure safety.
- Making a list of necessary pet supplies in case of emergency — If there’s a fire emergency, you and your pet will likely need certain items in your home. Use this day to make a necessary supplies list for your pet in case of emergency, including things like food and water. You want to be able to grab as many items as possible if there’s a problem.
- Researching boarding facilities — If there’s ever a fire hazard, you might need to evacuate your home and find accommodation until your situation is resolved. Since it can be tough to find accommodation that accepts pets, use this day to research boarding facilities and kennels in your area. That way, your pet will have a safe place to stay until you figure out your living situation.
- Spreading the word on social media — One of the easiest and best ways to celebrate this day is to spread the word about it on social media. Most people nowadays use platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, which are excellent places to educate people about pet fire safety. If you’re spreading the word online, use the hashtag #NationalPetFireSafetyDay on your social media.
National Pet Fire Safety Day Tips to Keep Your Pets Safe
While celebrating National Pet Fire Safety Day, be sure to learn more about the ways that you can keep your pets safe from causing fires and keep them safe in case of a fire.
Tips to Prevent Your Pet From Causing a Fire
- Remove stove knobs.
- Extinguish open flames.
- Keep pets away from the kitchen and other dangerous areas.
- Hide electrical cords, or keep them out of reach if possible.
- Invest in fireless candles.
- Have working fire alarms in your home.
- Keep your pet away from the chimney’s outside vents.
- Keep your pet away from fireplaces.
- Install monitored fire detectors in your home.
Additional Pet Safety Tips
- Always keep a collar on your pet, and store their leash in an easily accessible spot.
- Have your pet sleeping near you or near the emergency exit so you can easily find them in case of emergency and help them get out.
- If you’re leaving your pets home alone, keep them in areas where fire hazards can’t happen.
- Attach pet alert window clings to your home’s windows.
- If there’s a fire hazard, never go back inside for your pet; instead, tell the firefighters that you have a pet and let them do their job.
In Conclusion
National Pet Safety Day is an extraordinary holiday celebrated on June 15, and its goal is to raise awareness about pet fire safety. If you’re a pet parent, this is a holiday that you should commemorate and educate yourself about to provide safety for your family and your pets.
Featured Image Credit: OKcamera, Shutterstock
