Dog starts house fire by chewing on battery pack! 5 steps to make sure pets stay safe when you are away from home

A video recently went viral where a dog can be seen starting a house fire after chewing on battery packs. In the video, captured on the CCTV, a dog can be seen wandering inside the living room with another dog and a cat around. The dog can be seen carrying a battery pack in his mouth and sitting down on a mattress to chew on it. Suddenly the battery pack can be seen sparking, scaring the dogs. Then, the battery pack can be seen starting a fire on the doggie mattress which further spreads to the sofa, with the dogs watching. 

Tulsa Fire Department released the video depicting what can go wrong when we leave our pets with dangeous items lying around. Safety update – after barking and staring at the fire, the dogs and the cat were able to escape through a doggy door. Take a look at the video here.

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This makes us ask, are our pets safe when we leave them alone at home? Here are a few precautions we must take.

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Install security cameras:

We must always have security cameras installed inside the house to have a look at what our pets are up to. This will also help us to keep a check on them and know if they are safe and healthy. A live feed to your phone is always better.

Get a pet sitter:

If we can afford it, we must have a pet sitter who can take care of our pets when we are away. This will ensure that our pets have food and water on time, and do not feel lonely without us. If that's not possible, make friends with your neighbours and take their help whenever you leave your pets alone. They can keep a check on your dogs and cats and help in cases on emergencies. 

Place dangerous things out of pet’s reach:

Be it batteries, or matchbox, or lighters or electric wires, we should ensure to keep everything dangerous out of their reach. Baby proof your home, even for your fur babies.

Have smoke alarms:

We must install carbon monoxide and smoke alarms inside the house to alarm us in case something goes wrong.

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Attach GPS to pet’s collar:

When we are way. There are chances that the pet can go outside. It becomes difficult for younger pets to find the way back home. In such cases, we can always track their location by the GPS on their collar.