Tips to keep pets safe during Halloween

If you love dressing up, getting scared and eating candy, Halloween is probably your favorite holiday. But your pet may not share your love for the spooky season. To make sure they join you in having a frightfully delightful time — without a scary trip to the veterinary ER — experts have weighed in on Halloween hazards and how to avoid them, plus ways to keep “howl-o-ween” fun for pets.

Tricky Treats

Pets love to share our food, and most don’t hesitate to raid our plates or steal our snacks. Pay attention to what you buy to hand out on Halloween — or have around for yourself. Sugar-free candy has benefits for people on special diets, but when it contains an ingredient called xylitol (sometimes called birch sugar), it’s toxic to dogs. Xylitol is a natural sweetener found in many products, from chewing gum to candy to baked goods, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe for dogs to ingest.