Keeping Pets Safe During Halloween and Bonfire Night

Keeping Pets Safe & Calm During Halloween & Bonfire Night 

🎃🐾

 

As the festive season approaches—with flickering jack-o’-lanterns, spooky costumes, and fireworks illuminating the night sky—it’s essential to prepare our pets for what can be two of the most stressful dates in the calendar: Halloween and Bonfire Night.

While these celebrations are fun for us, the combination of loud bangs, flashing lights, strange costumes, and increased foot traffic can trigger anxiety responses in companion animals. Below we outline veterinary-approved, behaviour-centric strategies to safeguard both physical comfort and emotional wellbeing.

🎭 Halloween Hazards & How to Mitigate Them

 

🐶 Anxiety From Costumes & Visitors

Frequent doorbell ringing, unfamiliar scents, and masked figures can easily activate a pet’s fear response.

Best practices:

• Implement a “safe retreat space”: choose a quiet room with familiar bedding, pheromone diffuser (e.g., Feliway/Adaptil), water, and enrichment toys.

• Desensitize to door sounds: play low-volume recordings of door knocks/bells paired with rewards (counter-conditioning).

• Use signage: a polite note requesting trick-or-treaters avoid knocking and use a treat bowl at the gate can reduce stimuli at your front door.

🍬 Toxic Treats & Choking Risks

Chocolate, xylitol, raisins, and candy wrappers are all veterinary emergencies waiting to happen.

Safety checklist:

• Allocate a designated candy-storage area completely out of reach.

• Brief guests/children about not feeding pets human sweets.

• Keep pet-friendly treats on hand for positive association training.

👗 Pet Costumes—Ethical & Safe Use

If dressing your pet, ensure:

• Full freedom of movement (no gait restriction).

• No tight elastics, zippers, or choking hazards.

• Behavioural consent—if the pet shows stress signals (lip licking, freezing, tail tucked), remove the costume.

• Keep away from candles! Most pet outfits will be extremely flammable. 

 

💥 Bonfire Night Stress Reduction Protocol

 

Fireworks evoke acoustic startle responses in animals, sometimes triggering panic behaviours such as bolting, trembling, vocalisation, or destructive coping behaviours.

 

🏡 Environmental Management

• Close curtains/blinds and play white-noise or calming music (classical or species-specific soundtracks).

• Use crate-training or den-like environments for dogs who already perceive crates as secure refuges.

• Provide enrichment to redirect stress: lick mats, snuffle mats, puzzle feeders.

🌿 Supportive Calming Modalities

• Pheromone diffusers/collars (Adaptil/Feliway)

• Pressure garments (ThunderShirt-style compression vests)

• Veterinary-dispensed anxiolytics for pets with severe phobias (e.g., trazodone, gabapentin; prescribed only by a veterinarian)

Avoid self-medicating pets—human medications can be fatal.

🔒 Outdoor Safety

• Keep cats indoors; microchip details should be updated.

• Walk dogs before dusk to avoid peak fireworks.

• Ensure fencing and gates are secure—panic can lead to escape attempts.

🐾 Proactive Conditioning for Future Years

 

Noise desensitization and and counter-conditioning can dramatically reduce fear responses long-term. Work with a credentialed behaviourist (IAABC, APBC, CCAB) to implement a structured program using gradual exposure to firework audio paired with high-value rewards.

Early proactive intervention—especially in puppies/kittens—can prevent noise phobias from developing.

 

✅ Quick Emergency Checklist

Risk	Preventive Step
Lost pet	Microchip updated; collar with ID
Noise stress	Safe room, music, pheromone diffusers
Toxic foods	Secure sweets; emergency vet number handy
Door traffic	Baby gate or quiet room set-up
Outdoor fireworks	Walk early; keep cats in