Anyone who knows me knows that the most important thing in my life is Taggart, my nearly 9-year-old Australian Shepherd. She’s a brilliant, beautiful, funny and loving dog—and I’m not the only one who thinks so! Tag and I were a therapy dog team at a local hospital for years and she was adored by staff and patients alike. So I’ll ask for your indulgence today as I stray from our usual topic—workplace safety—to talk about a topic near and dear to my heart: pet safety during the holidays. Not All Fun & Games As all pet owners know, pets are slaves to their routines. Although the holidays are lots of fun for us humans, they wreak havoc on our daily routines. And this disruption can stress Spot and Fluffy out, making even the best behaved pet a problem. Throw in the additional stressors of twinkling lights, trees inside the house and lots of visitors and you start to see why our pets might not look as forward to this time of year as we do. Holiday Hazards Some of things we like best about the holidays are actually safety hazards for dogs and cats, such as:

• Holiday foods, especially those containing chocolate;
• Plants, particularly mistletoe and holly;
• Christmas tree decorations; and
• Candles.

And with the holidays comes cold weather—and antifreeze. It might taste sweet to your pet but it’s highly toxic. Plus, the chemicals used to de-ice sidewalks can be very irritating to dogs’ paws. I don’t mean to be a buzz kill. Pets and the holidays can mix. After all, nothing is cuter than a puppy asleep under the Christmas tree. Just take the same approach that you do when it comes to workplace safety: 1) conduct a risk assessment of the holiday hazards posed to your pets; and 2) take reasonable steps to minimize or address those hazards. For help in conducting that risk assessment, the BC Veterinary Medical Association has some safety tips for protecting your pet over the holidays.