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How will you be celebrating Labor Day this weekend? A barbecue? A cookout? S’mores around the campfire? Swimming? Watching some football? 🏈💥🏊
Hopefully, delicious food, snacks, and beverages are definitely on the menu!
Yet, we still need to be vigilant with all snack bags, chip bags, marshmallow bags, hotdog buns bags, cookie bags, and other food bags around our pets, whether inside the house or outside in the yard. Amidst all the fun, it’s easy to miss seeing our pets get access to any of these bags or containers. All of those food bags can lead to pet suffocation.
This Labor Day Weekend, make sure you’ve taken the necessary steps to protect your pets. No matter how you celebrate, it’s important to keep your pet’s safety in mind. Below are some tips to help protect your pets while preoccupied with entertaining or playing.
✔️ HOLIDAY FOODS – Make sure your pet can’t ingest any holiday foods and treats like bones, grapes, onions, chocolate, xylitol, and alcoholic beverages.
✔️ FOOD BAGS – Keep all food bags like chip bags, snack bags, and plastic bags safely stored away from your pets to prevent pet suffocation. Cut up all bags and dispose of properly. With more guests and children around, it’s easy to get distracted and not notice what your pet is up to.
✔️ POOLS – Never leave your pets unsupervised around a pool, lake, or other bodies of water. Have your dog wear a flotation device when on boats. Don’t allow your dog to drink pool water which contains toxic chemicals.
✔️ SHADE – Pets can get dehydrated quickly, so if you’re spending time in the yard, at the beach, or at the pool, make sure your dogs have plenty of water and shade.
✔️ IDS – With the hustle and bustle of traveling over the weekend or celebrating with friends and family, you want to ensure your pet doesn’t escape or get lost. Make sure that your pet is microchipped or has an ID tag on his collar.
Enjoy this last summer holiday weekend knowing your pets are safer. 🐶🐱
🌈 Today is Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day!
It’s a day we spend honoring the beloved pets we’ve lost who are waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge. 🐶🐱
The death of a pet can be a profound loss. Our pets become our family and offer us unconditional love, loyalty, companionship, and joy. It’s important to grieve and acknowledge their loss, and observing Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day is a wonderful way to not only heal from the loss but to keep their memory alive.
💔 We have lost too many pets due to pet suffocation. We hear firsthand from many grief-stricken pet owners about the loss of their pet, and their devastation and heartbreak are visceral. We help keep their memory alive by sharing their stories to help keep other pets safe.
Take time today to enjoy memories of your pets that have passed on and spend a little extra time with the pets you have today! They are gone but not forgotten. 🌈
Happy National Dog Day! Celebrate your pup today! 
Today is International Homeless Animals’ Day! It’s a day to spread awareness of the ongoing plight of homeless animals by focusing on the overpopulation problem and providing a voice for these often forgotten animals.
Over 70 million cats and dogs alone are homeless in the United States, with millions more homeless worldwide.
To help observe this important day:
🐶 Volunteer at and/or donate to your local animal shelter
🐱 Adopt a homeless cat or dog
🐶 Educate others on the importance of spaying/neutering
🐱 Encourage people to adopt a pet rather than buy one
🐶 Use #InternationalHomelessAnimalsDay to share on social media
Another important reminder of why we cut up chip bags and other food bags is to protect all the stray dogs and feral cats that roam the landfills, neighborhoods, beaches, parks, and campsites foraging for food. Please help keep them safe from suffocation, too!
Keep all of our beloved animals in mind, and please make sure you’re cutting up your bags before disposing of them! 🐶🐱
It’s National Nonprofit Day! Today, we pay tribute to the positive impact non-profit and charitable organizations have on our local, national, and international communities.
Our Founder, Bonnie Harlan, started Prevent Pet Suffocation in early 2012 after losing her rescue dog, Blue, on December 15, 2011 when he suffocated in a chip bag. Today, Prevent Pet Suffocation has an international following as we spread our awareness campaign to prevent pet suffocation around the world.
During the pandemic and afterwards, many charities, especially smaller ones like ours, have seen donations decrease due to the uncertainty of the times. We believe keeping our beautiful cats, dogs, other domestic pets, and wildlife safe from suffocation worldwide is essential!
Please consider making a donation of any amount to help us further our mission to educate the public on the suffocation risks our pets face from chip bags, snack bags, pet food bags, and other food bags.
We couldn’t save the lives of pets around the world without your generosity and support. No amount is too small! Thank you!
Please click on the Donate Button on our Home Page on the website to make a donation. ❤️
Today, August 15th, is “National Check the Chip Day!” ☑️
Microchip your pet! Lost or stolen pets have a much higher chance of being reunited with their families if they have been microchipped and the registration information is up to date.
Microchipping takes seconds to do! A needle is used to place a little chip under your pet’s skin, usually between the shoulder blades. That chip has a unique number on it that can be picked up and read by a scanner.
Consider this:
➡️ A family pet is lost every two seconds. 🐶🐱
➡️ One out of three pets is lost during their lifetimes.
➡️ Only one in ten is found.
➡️ More than ten million pets are lost each year.
Greatly increase your pet’s chance of being found if he becomes lost or stolen by microchipping today! 🐶🐱
Did you know your pet birds are vulnerable to pet suffocation?
When we think about protecting our domestic and exotic birds at home, many bird owners know about the hazards birds can encounter in a home like open water, ceiling fans, windows, doors, mirrors, electrical cords, toxic substances, and other pets. But many people don’t know that birds are also at risk for pet suffocation.
Many birds, like Tango and Sasha, the beautiful Caique Parrots pictured above, love to get into plastic baggies and other bags like dogs and cats do. This can quickly lead to a dangerous suffocation situation for your bird, as he struggles to get free of the bag. Pet suffocation happens within minutes!
So, as you would do for your dogs and cats, follow the same tips to prevent pet suffocation for your beloved birds.
🐦 Serve chips and snacks in resealable plastic containers or glass bowls instead of bags
🐦 Cut up all chip bags and snack bags
🐦 Keep your kitchen pantry door and trash can lids tightly closed
🐦 Make sure food bags are not left on tops of counters or refrigerators where birds can easily reach them
🐦 Be extra vigilant to ensure that family members, friends, and pet sitters are aware of the risks of pet suffocation and its causes
Enjoy your beautiful birds knowing they are safe in your home!
Today is National Spoil Your Dog Day!
As the Dog Days of Summer wind down, today is the perfect day to spoil your furry family members!
Here are a few ideas on how you can make today special:
🐶 Give your dog some new treats, toys, or a leash and collar
🐶 Take your dog out for an adventure – hit the beach, head to the woods, or let your dog make some new friends at the dog park
🐶 Buy your dog a new bed or make a cozy new spot for them in your home
🐶 Take your dog to the groomer or set up an appointment for them to get pampered
Our dogs spoil us with unconditional love, so let’s give them some extra attention today! ❤️
How many chip bags, snack bags, pet food bags, and other food bags do you have in your house right now? Things like:
✔️ Potato chips
✔️ Pretzels
✔️ Popcorn
✔️ Cereal
✔️ Shredded Cheese
✔️ Peanut Butter
✔️ Yogurt
✔️ Pet Treats
All of these food bags and containers and many more can pose a life-threatening suffocation risk to your pets. And, most people have no idea!
A lot of these bags are made from a strong mylar-like material (like a balloon) which helps keep snacks fresher. When a curious dog puts his head into the bag looking for leftover crumbs, the bag creates a vacuum-like seal around the dog’s neck. As he tries to breathe, the bag tightens around his neck, cutting off the oxygen. When a dog cannot remove the bag from his head, he will usually start to panic, desperately running around until he collapses and dies from asphyxiation, often losing his bowels, as well. This happens within minutes.
Food containers and jars can also be deadly for your pets. Cats and dogs can easily get their head stuck in one and unable to get out.
Cut up all food bags and dispose of properly. Ensure containers and jars are not left open for a pet to get into. Click on the Information Tab on our website to learn more on how to prevent pet suffocation. ❤️
(Infographic courtesy of PawsTime)
Do you ever wonder how your dog could get access to a food bag or container that is on a table or counter? Dogs of all breeds and sizes are savvy enough to get what they want, especially if they smell food!
Have you ever put food on the kitchen counter and turned your back for a few minutes only to find the food has disappeared while your four-legged friend is licking his lips?
Dogs love to hang out in the kitchen because they know that the kitchen is a wonderful source of delicious food, snacks, and smells. If your pet often finds food on the counter, he will find ingenious ways to get to it.
A table hopping or counter surfing dog can easily grab a chip bag, snack bag, cheese bag, plastic bag or toxic food off the table or counter and get into trouble quickly.
Some helpful safety tips while cooking include:
🐶 Teach your pup at a young age not to get on the counters or tables.
🐶 Keep all food bags safely out of reach of your pets.
🐶 Wipe the counter tops thoroughly when you are done cooking so that there’s no delicious residue for the dog to lick up.
🐶 Keep trash cans tightly secured.
🐶 Crate your dog during meal preparation, if possible. The process of cooking tends to involve food spread out on the counters, making it easy for your dog to grab some food quickly.
Make cooking and clean-up more relaxing by keeping your pets out of the kitchen for their own safety!
