Seasonal thunderstorms can cause a great deal of stress for all animals; pet owners need to take steps to keep their pets calm and safe.

Tips to keep your pet safe and calm:

·         Keep pets indoors, close the curtains. Take them outside to “do their business” prior to the thunderstorms starting. Turn on the radio or television to help mask outdoor noises.

·         Keep a well-fitting (not tight) collar and identification/license on your pet.  Licensed, micro-chipped and dogs with ID tags have a better chance of being returned to their owners.

·         If your pet is crate-trained place it in its crate.

·         If you have a new pet and you do not know how it will react to loud noises, stay with your pet.

·         If you must be outside, keep your pet on a leash or carrier at all times.

The owner of a husky-mix found wandering Deer Park with a collar embedded in his neck has been charged with second-degree animal cruelty and confinement in an unsafe manner Tuesday.

The dog, Nanook, was found Friday, Jan. 25 with a wound around its neck “consistent with a collar or cable being embedded over a long period of time,” according to Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service. Nancy Hill, executive director for SCRAPS, believes that Nanook was tied around the neck outside “most of the time,” indicating it was unlikely he was hardly ever let off of the tether.

Nanook's owner, Ray L. Lafountain claimed the dog and released it to SCRAPS. Nanook has been adopted by a Spokane resident who reached out through SCRAPS' volunteer network. Hill said Nanook's new owner “can work with the dog's special medical needs.”

“We encourage everyone to fence their yard rather than tethering a dog so this kind of injury doesn't happen,” Hill said.

The idea came from a children's book that advocated giving shelter dogs a break from the kennel. And for the second straight year, Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service tried to complete the daunting task of clearing the kennel before the New Year.

After December 2012 wrapped up there were only two adoptable cats and two adoptable dogs left at the facility, with 146 adoptions completed.

“We got to 98 percent of our goal,” Nancy Hill, animal protection director, said.

Hill said she got the idea for the Clear the Kennel effort when she read “A Dog Named Christmas” – a story about a boy who convinces families to take dogs out of the shelter for Christmas.