If an emergency were to occur, it's best to have everyone in your house on the same wavelength. Even your pets.
Every single year, 500,000 pets suffer from the effects of smoke inhalation. Roughly 40,000 pets die annually to house fires, which is a real statistic that was collected by the American Veterinary Medical Foundation circa 2016.
When surveyed, 90% of a group of pet owners stated that they consider their animals to be family members, according to the Union Bank of Switzerland's annual wellness survey. So, this hopefully clues you in on how important protecting your animals should be to you.
Here are some tips that you should take about making sure your animals are as safe as they can be in the event of a fire.
When a smoke alarm goes off, your first reaction might be to panic, grab everything you can, and run for the door. Your animal is likely terrified by the loud noise and the chaos. So, in the event that your fire alarm does go off, calmly approach your pet and remove them from the situation first.
Use window cling stickers to display how many and what kind of pets you have in the house. Firefighters are trained to also rescue animals from residential homes, not just people.
Make sure your alarms are functional- this should come as a no-brainer.
Plan ahead for emergency care. If something unspeakable were to happen regarding your health or the health of your animal, making sure you have a predetermined plan to deal with an injury, death, or displacement with your pet in mind.