Fireworks-filled holiday leaves many pets parted from owners

Will Oremus

Monday, July 7, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

The lost dogs room at Lied Animal Shelter on Sunday was packed with pit bulls, shepherds and retrievers, refugees from a fusillade of Fourth of July fireworks.

Independence Day is always perilous for pets, according to Diane Orgill, the shelter's vice president. With their sensitive ears, the animals get spooked by the booms of holiday fireworks, and "they're so frightened they can't think of anything to do but run," Orgill said.

A few people might make the mistake of letting their pets roam free on the Fourth, but Las Vegas animal control officer Jim Nee said the majority of animals he picked up had managed to escape from enclosures.

"When they're scared, animals seem to get real ingenious when it comes to getting out of the yard," Nee said. "They dig under the fence, or they jump over the fence."

Nee said that between Tuesday and Saturday, Las Vegas Animal Control got 48 calls from people who had found runaway dogs. That's about twice the number of calls the department receives on an average weekend.

The result is that Lied and other local shelters are "really full," according to Orgill.

The shelter keeps animals in the lost and found section for a minimum of three days before putting them up for adoption. Orgill said only about 7 percent are claimed by their owners within this three-day span.

"Fourth of July is really bad, because people are out of town on vacation," she said.

But the crowded shelter doesn't have room to hold onto the animals for a longer period of time.

The pets that make it to the shelters are the lucky ones, according to Doug Duke, director of the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"The real danger is getting hit by cars," Duke said. "You'll have dogs that would normally be a little car-savvy running out into the road because they're so hysterical."

Duke said he often sees pets that have been abused or burnt by fireworks, but Nee said Las Vegas Animal Control didn't encounter any such cases this weekend.