True Kinship & Halloween Safety
Some tips to keep your animal family members safe this Halloween.
Listen to the podcast clip below or the full episode entitled “Bringing True Kinship Into Halloween, Ep. #78” on Apple Podbean iHeart Radio or your favorite podcast station.
Script
Welcome to True Kinship with Animals where we believe we all do better when ALL creatures do better. I’m your host Janet Roper, identifying as she/they and sustained by Salish and (pond d’ray) Pend d’Oreille land. This episode covers Halloween safety for animals and ways for you to practice true kinship during the festivities.
This podcast gives you stories, conversations and suggestions on how you can deepen your relationship with animals by freeing yourself from the inherited, colonized beliefs and assumptions we’ve all been socialized into. You will begin relating to animals through a new place of understanding because you have grown beyond society’s expectations of how animals ‘should’ be treated.
Speaking of stories, I hope you’re enjoying the new segment “Stories From Listeners”. You’ve heard a story about how cat Luna named herself, and another one about horse Dixie saving herself and her rider from a potentially dangerous situation on a trail. Do you have a true kinship story - how about submitting it? There are so many just waiting to be heard and told! If you do, contact me and let’s talk!
Thank you for engaging with this podcast by making a financial contribution, listening, subscribing and sharing. Your financial support and social media engagement makes my work sustainable and is ever so much appreciated! You’ll find my social media links and ways to financially support my work on the show page or visit janetroper.com
Sooooooo, Halloween is coming up in just a few days - what’s your plan for keeping animals feeling safe and secure?
For humans, it’s a fun celebration giving you a chance to dress up and receive treats. You get to visit a pumpkin patch, carve pumpkins, tell scary stories and maybe even visit a haunted house or corn maze. All in all generally a fun time.
Not necessarily so with animals. There’s a lot of stressful hustle and bustle going on with different sounds, lights, smells and sights. Safety hazards such as candles, the frequency of a door opening and closing, indoor and outdoor decorations, excess litter - all of this can be confusing and frightening for domesticated and farm animals and wildlife.
Some sobering facts from Pet Releaf
Halloween is the second most common holiday for pets to get lost
The week of Halloween is the Pet Poison Helpline’s busiest time of year, when emergency calls increase by 12%
Noise aversion to sounds like doorbells, knocking, and screams affect more than one-third of dogs and cats
Around 20% of lost animals go missing after being scared by a loud noise
Some organizations report an increase in pranks and crimes against pets animals during Halloween
This season I invite you to add true kinship into the Halloween spirit and experience the difference it makes for the animals.
So how do you do that?
Here’s A Simple Exercise
See Halloween and the festivities leading up to and afterwards not through your human eyes, but through the animal eyes.
If you’re a cat, what’s it like to have all these sparkly new toys – aka decorations – setting around the house? What’s it like to be reprimanded when you jump on your favorite table because there are lit candles on it?
If you’re a dog, how are you affected by the different smells and noises that are suddenly in your household? What’s it like to have the door open and closed so many times? If you’re a shy dog, how do you feel when you hear the ringing of the doorbell? If you’re a runner, what’s it like to dart out the door only to find your familiar neighborhood changed into an unknown place with loud, unfamiliar noises? And maybe be dressed in a costume that hampers the movements you feel will keep you safe?
If you’re wildlife, what’s it like to be a bird and be captured in artificial webbing? What’s it like to be a raccoon or squirrel who is enticed by easily accessible jack o’ lanterns on porches only to have people come out and chase you away?
It’s my belief that anyone listening to this podcast does not intend to frighten animals during the festivities. Still, intentions and impact of intentions are 2 different things and true kinship asks you to be aware of the impact of your intentions and change as necessary.
You know what? I’d love to hear your stories about how this year Halloween has been different for the animals and you because you practiced true kinship. How about submitting your story and seeing if it’s a match for Stories from Listeners? Contact me at janetsroper.com with your story.
Support My Work
Here’s an invitation for you to join me and other kindred spirits on this path of true kinship with animals. My work is devoted to helping you show up in the world for animals from the fullness of your authentic self. I hope this encourages you to look at your relationship with animals differently so that a new place of understanding begins to open for you.
If you enjoy and/or benefit from this podcast, become a financial supporter. Your financial support makes my work sustainable and allows me to continue providing you with the guests and life changing information you hear on this podcast. Supporting my work by making a financial contribution or shopping my wish list at janetroper.com shows your appreciation and is greatly welcomed. Thank you for your continued support and for listening to this podcast!
Just for today remember: We all do better when all creatures do better. Until next time, take good care!
