Firework safety for pets

HYDE PARK — With the start of the summer season, the Dutchess County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) offers tips for pet owners concerned about their pets reactions to loud noises. This time of year, noises from fireworks and thunderstorms can upset pets and can even cause damage to their hearing. Pets can become terrified of loud noises. They cannot control their reactions. Pets may try to run away or otherwise escape the noise. They may injure themselves in the attempt to get away.“Our companion animals suffer from loud noises just like we do. It is so important that we provide special care to ensure their well-being,” said Joyce Garrity, executive director, Dutchess County SPCA. The Dutchess County SPCA advises that pet owners take the following precautions for pets: • Pet owners have many options to protect their pets such as moving them to a quieter location inside the home, or to a different home when loud noises are predicted. Consider ways to deaden noises such as shutting doors, windows and drapes. Provide your pet with toys to distract them. • Secure your pets’ area to prevent them from escaping. Bring pets inside and secure any cat or dog doors. Make sure pets have ID tags and microchips in case they do run away. • Never use fireworks around pets. Fireworks can cause injuries to pets and harm their hearing. Pets can have unpredictable reactions to the noises and lights. • Do not bring your pets with you to view fireworks shows. Animals can develop stronger fears over time so one that did not seem to mind the show last year may react with more fear this year. • The Dutchess County SPCA encourages pet owners to work with their veterinarian and trainers on ways to lessen pets’ anxieties. Medications, herbal remedies, training aids, thunder shirts and other techniques can help soothe pets. Each animal is different so pet owners need to create unique plans for each pet. Consult with your veterinarian before giving medications to your pet or when combining herbal remedies with prescription medication. • Do not leave pets outside during a storm. The Dutchess County SPCA, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, is the lead agency for animal rescue and adoption in Dutchess County. The DCSPCA is a no-kill shelter with a 140-year history of concern, caring and providing shelter for unwanted, abused, abandoned and neglected animals. The Dutchess County SPCA rescues, shelters and secures permanent homes for adoptable companion animals; advocates for the highest standards of animal care; and enforces animal cruelty laws throughout Dutchess County.Submitted by Catherine Forbes, development director, DCSPCA.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less