Safety tips for pets wearing Halloween costumes

If Halloween means a costume for your pet, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has some safety tips:

• A costume should not constrict an animal's movement or hearing.

• It should not impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow.

• Try costumes on a pet before the big event. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go in his or her birthday suit or switching to a festive bandanna.

• Inspect your pet's costume and make sure it doesn't have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he or she could choke on.

• Poor fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.

• To teach an animal to enjoy wearing a costume, get them used to it a little at a time, associating the fitting of the costume with the animal's favorite things, like a delicious treat. By going slowly, you can make sure your animal is happy at each stage before moving on to the next one.

• Pets should always be supervised while wearing a costume. Remove it if he or she won't have your full attention.

• A pet should always wear an identification tag. Halloween is no exception. Your pet could dash out the door when you least expect it and his tag could be his ticket home. Make sure the address and phone number on the tag are up-to-date.

Source: Katherine Miller, Ph.D., assistant science adviser and project manager for ASPCA national programs.