Halloween Pet Safety Checklist

24 items · Lifestyle · Easy difficulty · 1 hour

Keep your dog or cat safe on Halloween: a quiet room away from the door, ID tags, candy out of reach, safe decorations and a costume check.

• Check that your pet's collar tag has your current phone number
• Confirm the microchip is registered to your current address and phone

  Your vet can scan the chip and tell you the registry to call.

• Take a clear, current photo of your pet

  A lost-pet post works better with a photo from this month than one from puppyhood.

• Save your vet's after-hours number and the nearest emergency vet in your phone

  Add a pet poison control hotline too. Most of them charge a consultation fee.

• Set up a quiet room away from the front door

  Give it water, a bed, a litter box for a cat, and a radio or fan to cover the doorbell.

• Let your pet spend time in that room on the days before Halloween
• Walk your dog before trick-or-treating starts

  A tired dog settles faster, and you avoid meeting a crowd of costumes on the sidewalk.

• Bring outdoor cats inside for the evening
• Put pets in the quiet room before the first knock
• Hand out candy from the porch if your pet cannot be shut in a room

  Sit outside with the bowl so the front door stays closed all evening.

• Keep the candy bowl on a high shelf or behind a closed door between visits
• Store the kids' candy hauls out of reach once they come home

  A bag left on the floor or a low coffee table is within easy reach of a dog.

• Check sugar-free candy and gum for xylitol

  It is dangerous to dogs even in small amounts.

• Keep raisins and chocolate-covered raisins away from dogs
• Pick up candy wrappers and lollipop sticks right away

  Foil and plastic wrappers can block a pet's gut.

• Use battery lights in jack-o'-lanterns instead of candles

  A wagging tail or a curious cat can knock over a lit pumpkin.

• Keep decoration cords out of reach or covered
• Skip stretchy fake cobwebs where pets can reach them

  Cats especially like to chew and swallow the strands.

• Throw out carved pumpkins once they start to go soft or moldy
• Put glow sticks away after use

  The liquid inside tastes bitter and makes pets drool and foam, which looks frightening but is usually not serious.

• Try any pet costume on a few days early

  Take it off if your pet freezes, hides or keeps pawing at it.

• Check that the costume leaves eyes, ears, mouth and legs free

  Remove buttons, bells or strings your pet could chew off.

• Never leave a pet alone while it is wearing a costume
• Call your vet if you think your pet ate chocolate, xylitol, raisins or a wrapper

  Have the wrapper or package in hand so you can say what it was and roughly how much is missing.

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