Fireworks Can Scare Animals to Death: PETA Shares Tips on Protecting Cats and Dogs in San Francisco This Fourth of July

For Immediate Release:
June 23, 2025

Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382

San Francisco –

Every Fourth of July, fireworks displays send frightened cats and dogs scrambling to climb, break, or dig their way out of wherever they are in a frantic attempt to escape the chaos—and shelters across the country are inundated with animals who fled their homes in terror. To help prevent cats and dogs from becoming lost, injured, or killed, PETA is sharing tips for keeping animals safe and calm during fireworks.

For many animals and their guardians, Independence Day ends in anguish. Last year, fireworks caused an 8-month-old puppy named Leilani to panic and jump into the water off the Port of Redwood City. She was missing for two days without food or water before a canoer who heard her cries found her running and covered in mud on Bair Island. While Leilani was eventually reunited with her family, countless others across the country weren’t as lucky.

People can help protect animals by taking the following precautions:

Keep cats and dogs indoors. Never leave animals tethered or chained outside—they can hang themselves if they become caught on fences they try to clamber over. Animals can also injure themselves while trying to climb out of pens.
If you know in advance that there will be fireworks in your area, stay home with your animals and try to keep them calm—and never take animals with you to watch fireworks displays.
Close your windows and curtains. To help drown out the sounds, turn on fans and air-conditioning units as well as the TV or a radio tuned to a classical music station.
Purchase a ThunderShirt, which can help your dog or cat cope with the anxiety and fear brought on by fireworks. Other ways to keep animals calm include playing specially designed music from iCalmPet and giving them melatonin, a widely available natural supplement. (Consult your veterinarian first.)
Make sure that your animal companion is microchipped and wearing a collar or a harness with an up-to-date identification tag, just in case.
If it’s cool enough outside, take dogs for a long walk or a romp in the dog park before fireworks start, to help tire them out.
If you witness someone setting off illegal fireworks, call authorities right away.
Encourage local officials to ban fireworks displays. Dazzling spectacles such as drone or laser light shows are quieter, safer, and produce virtually no air pollution.

“Fireworks are terrifying for cats and dogs, who have no way of knowing that the booms and blasts aren’t actual bombs bursting in air,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA encourages revelers to ditch the explosives and stick to fireworks-free festivities that the entire family can enjoy.”

In addition to the danger they pose to companion animals, fireworks can also be deeply distressing for wildlife, military veterans, and anyone else sensitive to loud noises or smoke. PETA’s tips (and helpful yard signs, available here) can help make this holiday safer for everyone.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out thatEvery Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.