Although the 4th of July is still months away, it’s worth noting that this holiday can be extremely stressful for pets, particularly those with sensitive hearing.
As reported by Psychology Today, dogs have a sense of hearing that is four times more acute than that of humans. What we might hear from 20 feet away, they can detect from 80 feet.
Dogs are also capable of hearing higher frequency sounds that we can’t, which makes the loud noises of fireworks particularly frightening for them. NPR reports that animal shelters see a significant increase in lost dogs around the Fourth of July because many flee their homes in fear.
A recent story from WXYZ Detroit highlights just how sensitive dogs can be to fireworks, but it also has a heartwarming conclusion.
Last summer, Andrea and Pablo Campos left their dog, Tawny, at a daycare in Ingham County, Michigan, while they went on vacation to Traverse City, about three hours away. During their trip, they received alarming news that Tawny had escaped by climbing an 8-foot fence, possibly startled by fireworks.
The Campos family cut their vacation short and returned home to search for Tawny. “We went door to door and searched tirelessly for weeks, but she was nowhere to be found,” Pablo told WXYZ.
Unbeknownst to them, Tawny had traveled 60 miles from home and was living in the woods behind a post office in Livonia. Postal workers there occasionally fed her, but as the weather grew colder, they felt she needed a warmer place to stay.
Postal workers Steven Persyn, Dave Brisco, Adam Kaminski, and Jason Sobieski collaborated with the South Lyon Murphy Lost Animal Recovery team to rescue Tawny. “Every postal worker I’ve met loves animals,” a representative from the rescue said on Facebook. “We’re so grateful for our postal service!”
At the rescue center, Tawny was found to have a microchip, which allowed them to contact her family. Remarkably, Tawny was reunited with the Campos family exactly six years after she was adopted.
The Campos family described Tawny’s return as a “Christmas miracle.” “We always treated her like a princess, and it’s incredible that she survived on her own,” Pablo said. “I know it sounds cliché, but this was truly a Christmas miracle,” Andrea added.
Tawny’s reunion is a touching holiday story and serves as a reminder of the dangers that fireworks pose to pets. The South Lyon Murphy Lost Animal Recovery team also emphasizes an important lesson: “THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE SHE WAS MICROCHIPPED!” they wrote on Facebook. “Get your pets microchipped and make sure to register it!”