LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Animal shelters are getting ready to see an increase in the amount of animals taken in over the next couple of days — all thanks to the Fourth of July weekend.
The days following the holiday are a time many dogs and cats run away from home after being spooked by fireworks.
Right now, Louisville Metro Animal Services has 30 empty small animal and dog kennels, but expects that number will increase.
“We just want you to come in and get your pet,” said LMAS Deputy Director Jerry Foley.
Foley says this year, in general, is even busier with more people wanting to return animals they adopted during the pandemic.
“I think people loaded up on pets during COVID-19 ... they were stuck at home and they wanted to have a companion pet with them and now maybe they don't want to, they are back in the work force,” said Foley.
But pets lost because of fireworks have been filling social media pages, with owners trying to get the word out to find their lost animals.
Robin Clements is one of them. Her dog Bugsy ran off her porch on the Fourth of July while she and her husband were shooting off fireworks in the driveway. Bugsy bolted for the woods and kept going.
Her neighbors helped her look for hours — Clements often getting emotional — not knowing if she’d see Bugsy again. She had flyers made and posted them near her Middletown home.
But at 4 a.m. Tuesday, Clements got a phone call from someone who had seen a photo of the missing dog on social media and found him. It was an end to a tiresome journey for the 8-year-old dog.
“So from the center of Middletown, beyond the Gene Snyder and Lake Forest, is where he was actually found,” Clements said. “The map search it was 3.3 miles from here.”
Clements is lucky, and knows many families won’t find their missing pets as quickly.
LMAS is reminding owners to get their animals microchipped and to keep a close eye on them even in the next few days for any remaining celebrations with fireworks.
As for Bugsy, next year — he’s staying inside.
“He will be tethered in the bedroom with the radio on and I know he is going to be under the bed of course,” Clements said with a laugh.
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