Cordelia's Place | Dedicated to Cordelia and dog safety

9 ways to protect pets

Of course, always use (and recommend to your friends) a safety collar or harness for pets.

If you EVER witness, an animal left unattended in a car, no matter if it is hot, cold, warm, cool. And even if they cracked the windows, please call the police or animal control. The police will try to locate the owner of the car and enter the vehicle. This animal could die in minutes, from stroke and exhaustion. Dogs start panting outside in temperatures considered acceptable (80-85 degrees), imagine what happens in a car. In Maryland and most states, it is illegal to leave your pet in the car, please check your state laws. Check our pet car product section for the SunBlock shade, it will tell you the safe hot temperature for your vehicle. And also, in the cold the temperature drops so quickly in the car, this can also become deadly.

The sun heats the interior Heat is trapped; cooking whatevers inside

FACT: In just 10 minutes a cars temp will rise 20 degrees, in 20 minutes it will raise 30 degrees. This is why even on a nice cool 70 degree day, pets (and children) can die in cars, even with the windows cracked.

If you EVER witness an animal chained up outside without shelter from the elements and water, please call animal control. NEVER chain / tie out your dog on a elevated porch or deck. CALL IMMEDIATELY is you ever see a pet chained in an elevated position like this, they could fall off and hang themselves. You could save a life. This can be an anonymous call if you wish.

Keep your trash can covered or otherwise hidden from your pet, your waste can be poison to your pet. Things like your old coffee filter with grounds or spoiled food can make them very ill. Click here for a short list of everyday hazards your pet can get into from the ASPCA. In addition to this, try not to feed your pet human food. For example, chicken and fishbones, chocolate, coffee, tea, cola, grapes, raisins, certain nuts, onion, garlic, and mushrooms can be dangerous. Click here for a more extensive list with explanations from peteducation.com. We've heard that certain foods in very small amounts (to help when giving medicine for example) like cheese and peanut butter are fine, but always check with your vet.

Keep your toilet seat down, the water will make them really sick. The toilet water not only has bacteria but if you use a drop-in bowl cleaner or bleach to clean, these are poisonous.

Cover your outside pool or pond. We have actually heard stories from Rainbows Bridge of pets that have drowned. Many heavily-coated dogs and cats may be unable to swim to safety when their coats are soaking wet. Or, if the cover you do have is old, please replace it because your pet could walk across a weak spot, fall and get trapped beneath. These stories are really sad. In the same thought, keep pets away from ice covered ponds and lakes. Cats and dogs may wander onto ice too thin to support their weight.

Click here for a list of plants that are TOXIC to your pet.

If you have any home improvements or repairs that you have been putting off that are a potential hazard to your pet, please do it now before it's too late. For example, repair fencing and door latches and check your yard for exposed nails and splintered wood.

Here's the simple repair we did to our fencing for Cain and Gunner that could have saved Cordelia's life. We do not have a bottom pole to secure the fencing so the dogs could slide/dig underneath and escape the yard often. We bolted together two 8 foot pieces of wood from Home Depot. One piece on the outside of the fence and the other on the inside. You could do this with one piece but we feel two pieces add the extra weight and strength that's needed for large dogs. We could not afford to have a fencing company come in to add a bottom pole and this works great

Try to keep all electric cords out of reach or covered by a chew-proof guard. Puppies and kittens will chew on anything. Not only will it destroy what ever the cord goes to but it can electrocute your pet. We personally have had a fan, lamps and other small appliance cords chewed and destroyed by Cordelia, luckily they were not plugged in at the time.

WANT EVEN MORE INFO? Click here to learn about PET LAWS. Basic laws that every pet owner should be aware of.