Robbie Rogers: Protect Your Animals From Fireworks

For animals, fireworks aren’t festive—they’re frightening and sometimes even fatal. Many dogs and cats flee in terror from the deafening blasts of fireworks. It is common for dogs to leap out of windows or through screen doors or dig under fences to try to escape the startling and confusing blasts.

This underreported issue caught the attention of the LA Galaxy’s crowd favorite and animal lover Robbie Rogers, the first and only openly gay player in Major League Soccer. He teamed up with PETA for this very important PSA to explain the dangers of fireworks displays to our animal companions and how to help them when the sparks fly.

Animal shelters see admissions spike after firework displays. Frightened animals escape their homes. Sometimes, they end up on the street or, even worse, get hit by cars—but you can help prevent this!

Prepare your home and companion animal before the event. The most important thing for scared dogs is to have their guardians close by—distract your cat or dog by giving him or her lots of love and attention! Play some soothing background music or turn on the TV, close the curtains or blinds, and be sure that all animals are wearing collars with current identification tags and that they are microchipped.

Check out Robbie’s PETA interview, in which he opens up about his own experience with animals and fireworks.