Andrew Livingstone
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 19, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It's the season to be festive, meet with friends and family and partake in the joy of Christmas, and Sarah Hunt hopes pet owners will protect their animals from possible dangers during the holidays.

"I think it's a real important time because through the season us humans are usually really busy and caught up in meeting with friend and family and the treats and the luxuries of the Christmas holiday," said the president of the NWT SPCA. "Some of the things we are enjoying and safe for us are not necessarily safe for our furry friends. I think there are a lot of things people should be aware of and keep in mind when they are doing Christmas events at their house."

Hunt said it's important for pet owners to be aware of gift wrapping and gifts coming into the house. She said ribbons are very attractive to animals and can become a health risk for your pet.

"Ribbons are very attractive to cats and dogs and ingesting them can cause some severe intestinal problems within animals," she said. "My cats love to eat ribbon so I see it coming out a week after and it's not good for their system in general."

Hunt also said it's also important to keep electrical cords for Christmas lights out of reach.

"When you have your sparkling lights on your Christmas tree they could attract your pet to the cords, and it's a huge safety risk because they could electrocute themselves while there is live electricity going through them," she said. "Depending on how much power is going through those cords it could be more than just a scare, it could seriously hurt them."

When decorating your tree it's important to make sure ornaments and decorations like tinsel aren't within the reach of pets and be sure to keep the water under the tree fresh and clean.

"Tinsel is the same risk as ribbon, it can get caught in their intestinal tract and cause long-term problems," she said. "With glass ornaments, if they fall off the tree and break the animal could step on them, play with it and end up eating it. The glass pieces could cut their mouths, stomachs and could cause problems.

"The water sitting stagnant under the tree can also become harmful if there has been any fertilizer in the tree that could seep out into the water and be harmful if the animal drinks it."

Keeping your pet's regular routine in check is also important. Hunt said feeding your pet sweets and food not generally in their regular diet isn't a good idea and should be avoided, as well as alcohol.

"Animals can get drunk just like humans," she said. "They are a lot smaller and can be affected a lot quicker and more severely than humans.

"Don't forget about your dogs, cats, birds, reptiles because they are still in your home, but they still need to be walked and fed and loved and treated as they deserve to be treated any other time of the year.

"Keep important phone numbers available like the animal hospital and the SPCA. You can't safeguard from everything."