Avoiding the Trick Keeping Pets Safe on What Can Be a Scary Holidayiday
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DECORATIONS: Elaborated props spur good Halloween sales. | 2E The Paducah Sun Life| Sunday, October 23, 2011 | paducahsun.com Section E Avoiding the trick Keeping pets safe on what can be a scary holidayiday BY REBECCA FELDHAUSAUS [email protected] t’s diffi cult not to smile when you see a dogog dressed to the nines as a queen, a bumblebee or a mermaid.aid. It’s a festivefestive I holiday, so why not include the four-leggeded members ofof the family? Although it’s fun to dress man’s best friend upup forfor Halloween, local veterinarians suggest extra attention for petspets around the spooky holiday to avoid physical and mentaltal stress. Dr. Daniel Everett, local veterinarian, said therehere are several things pet owners should be aware of comecome Hal- loween. First is food. For some families, pets areare like their children; they want to treat them just like everyoneryone else. Pets should generally not receive any kind of candy,y, Everett said.said. “Dog treats are not made for kids and kid treatseats are not made for dogs,” Everett said simply. It doesn’t take sugary treats to cause upset stomachstomachs in pets, he said. Any change in diet can throw an animal’smal’s digestivedigestive system off, causing diarrhea and vomiting. One way to avoid dogs and cats getting into candy is to put the pets in interior rooms of the house, away fromrom windows, doors and the candy bowl. That way, pets can’tt get to the treats, and they aren’t outside to get any specialal treats fromfrom passersby. That also solves another common threathreat on Hallow- een. Pets who aren’t used to lots of foot traffi c at theirtheir frontfront door can be stressed out by trick-or-treaters, Everetttt said. In fi ght or fl ight mode, the animal could dart out of thee house,house, thus risking being hit by a car. Even the most docilee animal, when under stress, could act out toward the sourceource of stress. Keeping animals away from the trick-k- or-treaters helps eliminate these possibilities. Dr. LaNita Flanary likes to dress her dog Fancy in costumes fi tting of her name. She knows Fancy is comfortable in costumes, but some dogs aren’t, she said. Putting a dog or cat in a costume for the fi rst time can cause skin irritation or stress. Flanary advised never to leave a pet in a costume unattended. Extra fabricbric can eas- ily be chewed on and swallowed, or get wrappeded around the pet. Flanary said some pets can handle being out in the festivities, but they should be properly restrained. With many families out and about, some candy could be dropped. “When they eat something, they eat the wrapper,” Flanary said. “They don’t unwrap their candy.” Though many of the digestive problems she sees after Halloween are minor, she said it can cause a serious problem if left unchecked. Flanary said pet owners shouldn’t be scared of their pet’s well-being on Halloween, just pay attention. Keep animals inside, unless you are there to supervise them at all times. Keeping ContributedContributed PhotoPhoto pets’ tags up to date ensures they will be returned safely if they get out in all the hoopla. Schotzie and Hogan,HoganpetsofBethStapeltonposefortheircloseupatLa pets of Beth Stapelton, pose for their close-up at La- Most people just want to have fun on Halloween, and including their pet is very important to Nita Flanary’s Howl-o-ween Paw-ty earlier this month. Flanary said pet owners them. By exercising supervision and common sense, you’re more likely to have a sweet holiday. shouldn’t put costumes on their pets unless they are used to being dressed up. Contributed Photo Sassy, dressed as a lion, stands with owner Kathy Greenwell at a Halloween party at Dr. LaNita Flanary’s vet clinic. Flanary said pet owners need to pay particular at- tention to pets on Halloween, when increased neighborhood foot traffic could cause Contributed Photo stress in pets. Kathy Greenwell’s pet Baby struts as a bumblebee. Couple ditches truck for horse-drawn wagons BY BRIAN MCVICAR “I fi gure you can sit there and But the two adventurers insist Associated Press exist or you can go on an adven- they’re up for it. HART, Mich. — Bob Dal- ture,” said Dalrymple, who sur- “It’s neat, all the people we’ll rymple’s reasons for wanting to vives on Social Security Disability see, all the places we’ll go,” Neal leave Michigan are typical enough Insurance after injuring his back said. — the winters are too cold, the in a truck-driving accident several Dalrymple said he started plan- economy’s suffering and he’s years ago. “We decided an adven- ning for the move in April. After eager for adventure. ture didn’t sound so bad.” spending his life in Michigan, However, his mode of trans- He added: “I sold my stuff and much of it in the Oceana County portation is likely to raise a few I’m going, and I’m not coming community of Hart, he fi gured it eyebrows. back.” was time for a change. With few Fed up with the high price of The adventure promises to in- responsibilities tying him down, gasoline and costly auto insur- clude moments that are less than he fi gured why not move closer ance, Dalrymple, 58, ditched his leisurely. Dalrymple estimates to his son and daughter, who live Ford F-250 pickup for something they will average 15 to 25 miles in the Colorado communities of Associated Press far simpler: Two horse-drawn a day, and the trip of more than Firestone and Loveland. Bob Dalrymple of Hart takes two of his horses for a run in one of wagons. He says they’ll take him 1,100 miles could take a couple With gas and auto insurance his two horse-drawn wagons on Oct. 12 along South Brooks Road. and his girlfriend, Kathy Neal, months, taking them into No- consuming his budget, an un- Dalrymple, 58, is leaving for a cross-country trip to Colorado, mak- to Colorado, where his son and vember and mid-December. And ing the 1,100-mile journey with his girlfriend Kathy Neal and leaving daughter live. that’s if they travel every day. Please see WAGONS | 2E Michigan’s economy and cold winters behind. 2E • Sunday, October 23, 2011 • The Paducah Sun Life paducahsun.com Elaborate props spur good Halloween sales BY SANDRA PEDICINI you go to eBay, where it’s McClatchy-Tribune News Service selling for almost twice ORLANDO, Fla. — its original $70 price. Wendy Moore has spent Another popular prop is thousands of dollars an $180 animated Regan on a collection of Hal- from “The Exorcist” — who loween decorations spins her head and talks that even she admits is as the movie’s theme song “excessive.” plays in the background . It This year, she has her has also sold out in many eye on something new: Florida stores. A “Bloody Mary” mirror At Orange City, Fla.- that screams and has based Halloween Head- fl ashing lights, selling quarters, which has four for $130. temporary stores in Cen- Associated Press “The technology tral Florida this year, “LED Bob Dalrymple, 58, sits with his girlfriend Kathy Neal in one of their two covered they’re coming out with lights and new technology wagons on Oct. 12, 2011 in Muskegon, Mich. Dalrymple, 58, ditched his Ford F-250 is so neat,” said Moore, have helped with sales,” pickup for something far simpler: Two horse-drawn wagons. 35, who teaches at Full co-owner Joyce Darch Sail University in Winter said. “It’s a growing trend. Park, Fla. “Cool stuff just They’re cool, as opposed WAGONS: Couple goes on horse-drawn journey keeps coming out.” to a prop that doesn’t do Those increasingly anything.” CONTINUED FROM 1E he gets on the road. Most people used to cross the sophisticated props are Darch said her decor people who see his wagons Great Plains on the way helping drive up Hallow- sales have gone up — even orthodox thought entered have offered a friendly West. Both wagons are een spending. though mass-market his mind: Why not take a wave. Only a few expressed equipped with blinking Americans are expect- retailers now carry more horse? Stranger, perhaps. frustration. lights and brakes. ed to spend $6.9 billion Halloween items for the But the idea grew on him. “Those are people who With cash running tight, on the spooky holiday home, she said. “Every- He had the horses. Build- are in a hurry to get no- the couple have looked for this year, up 19 per- body is jumping on the ing the wagons is what where,” he said. “We’re not support wherever they can cent from last year, the bandwagon.” would take the most work. in a hurry to get anywhere.” fi nd it. National Retail Federa- One of the most popular He turned to a scrapyard, Eighteen feet in length, In an effort to reduce tion predicts. Almost $2 seasonal retailers is Spirit where he found the materi- the camper includes a re- his phone bill, Dalrymple billion of that will be on Halloween, which now has als that would do the trick: frigerator, a stove, a queen- offered to place a Verizon decor — up 15 percent almost 1,000 temporary A 60-year-old hay wagon, size bed and a sink. Pulled Wireless advertisement from last year. stores across North Amer- an old pontoon boat and a by three horses, the driver on his wagon.