Fourth of July fireworks can be 'traumatic' for pets, especially this year. Here's what pet owners should do. – USA TODAY

An eruption of noise on a June night startled Rajah as the dog played in her South Carolina backyard. It was fireworks.
The piercing crackling unnerved Rajah, and she bolted for the yard’s fence and leapt right over it, leaving her worried owners behind, according to multiple reports. 
Rajah eventually found her way back home, as documented in a now-viral late-night doorbell video, but the dog is far from alone in having a frantic reaction to fireworks. It’s a recurring problem for pets every Fourth of July, and this year is shaping up to be especially bad.
That’s because many Americans are looking forward to a more normal — and much louder — Fourth of July this year after pandemic restrictions canceled last year’s festivities. More than half of American adults plan to watch fireworks, according to a survey from The Vacationer, an online travel news hub. 
But as the pandemic continues to recede across the U.S., this Fourth of July will likely be even more distressing for pets, according to animal-care experts.
Pets already “have an extremely difficult time dealing with the loud noises of fireworks,” Pia Silvani, who serves as behavior director at Asheville Humane Society in North Carolina, said. But the pent-up social energy of people celebrating the rollback of pandemic restrictions could raise pets’ stress levels even more.
“It might be worse also because there hasn’t been a lot of noise and I think people are ready to have a huge celebration, so I think there’s gonna be an increase in noises,” Silvani said. “We’re already hearing fireworks going [off].”
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Pets don’t dislike fireworks because they’re unpatriotic — it’s a built-in feature of their advanced hearing.
Nadine Znajda, a veterinary dermatologist from BluePearl Pet Hospital in Tampa, Florida, said part of pets’ sensitivity to sound stems from their wide range of hearing, which allows them to process a litany of sounds. Znajda said dogs can hear about twice as many sound frequencies as people and four times the distance humans can hear. If a person hears a sound 20 feet away, a dog can hear the same sound 80 feet away.
And for dogs, hearing sound is not just an auditory perception: it’s a full-body sensory experience. Znajda said dogs’ ears, which “are designed to kind of funnel in sounds,” contribute to their sensitivity to loud noises. Since sound is also transmitted through vibrations, Znajda said dogs can perceive both audible and vibrational sounds – they can hear and feel sound.
Ben Williamson, programs director at the animal welfare organization World Animal Protection, points out that in addition to the increased noise level, this Fourth of July will be the first one for pet owners who adopted animals earlier in the pandemic. Williamson said the short adjustment period for pets can introduce another stressor amid the holiday activity and require a heightened alertness from pet owners.
“For many people who fostered or adopted animals for the first time during the pandemic, this will be the first Fourth of July for the animals in their new settings, so guardians must take extra care to look out for their new companions during this stressful evening for animals,” Williamson wrote in an email to USA TODAY.
Williamson said although much of science’s dialogue on animals and loud noises tends to center on dogs because of canines’ sharp hearing, all kinds of pets can be adversely affected by loud noise: cats, small rodents such as rabbits and hamsters — even horses.
Lisa Radosta, a veterinary behaviorist from Florida Veterinary Behavior Service, said she’s worried people might get so caught up in the joy of holiday celebrations that they overlook the emotional well-being of their pets.
“My biggest concern is that people will be so excited to get out and experience gatherings and celebrations that they will not make sure that their pets are safe from traumatic experiences,” Radosta wrote in an email to USA TODAY.
Williamson said people should make the effort this Independence Day to accommodate the animals in their lives as much as possible.
“Our animals provide unconditional love and security for us throughout the year,” Williamson said. “So on this one night of the year, isn’t it right that we return the favor and provide them with extra love and attention?”
If there’s any good news for pets, it may be that fireworks this year are harder to come by than usual.
Julie L. Heckman, executive director of the fireworks trade group the American Pyrotechnics Association, said even though the APA anticipates “backyard celebrations will rise” this Fourth of July, a series of manufacturing and transportation issues may limit the number of fireworks available to consumers. 
“Consumer fireworks, like many household consumer products, are caught up in the global supply chain disruption resulting from the pandemic,” Heckman said in an APA press release.
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Silvani, Williamson, Radosta and Courtney McWilliams, owner of the Louisiana-based pet daycare and spa boutique MaryMac’s Doggie Retreat, suggested a number of tips that can help reduce the overwhelmingness of the Fourth of July for the furry friends – especially dogs and cats – in your life.
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The negative impacts of the Fourth of July on pets can be far-reaching. Radosta said that while certain symptoms of distress in dogs, such as drooling, trembling, destructive behavior, self-harm and hiding might be temporary in scope, the overall physical impact of loud noise can significantly alter a dog’s behavior.
“What is especially heartbreaking is that some of these dogs are so traumatized that it may take months before they are able to walk outside again without fear,” Radosta said. 
Here are some missteps you should avoid during a noisy holiday, according to experts.
And if you plan on setting off fireworks yourself, you may want to rethink that too.
“Silent fireworks are used in some towns and cities around the world, which produce even more of a spectacle,” Williamson said. “Lights and laser shows are also calmer affairs. You might just want to gather your friends and family around a big bonfire.
“The bigger picture is this, it’s 2021: it’s time to find another way to celebrate than by terrifying our most loyal of friends.”
Contributing: Marina Pitofsky

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