THE FOURTH OF JULY is a day of parades, picnics, backyard cookouts and fireworks. But for a lot of people with pets, the Fourth is anything but fun, and it's a day that shelters around the country dread, because they know the next day they are going to be inundated with numerous lost and injured pets

Dogs and cats have phenomenal hearing. This was important for their survival. It helped them hunt, and it also kept them alive and out of danger. Now imagine a firecracker or car backfire in the distance. It may be barely audible to you, but it comes in extremely loud and clear for your dog or cat. When these noises start happening in neighbor's yards and the streets all around them, you quickly have a terrified pet whose natural instinct is to get as far away from the noise as fast as possible.