'Devastated' dog owner cautions after firecrackers spook pet, cause death

A Trout Lake area dog owner is warning others to keep their family's best friend leashed or inside close to Halloween after their "beloved"Maggie was spooked by firecrackers, causing her to runoff and gethit and killed by a SkyTrainSaturday.

"We are devastated," said ownerAliFluevog.

The black dog was in an off-leash area onthe afternoon of Oct. 29 at Trout Lake Park when a firecracker went off nearby.

Spooked, the dog bolted towardshome.

"She must have been terrified," said Fluevog.

Maggie, a Chow-Labradorcross was a rescue dog, and skittish by nature, she said.

"She panicked and we lost track of her."

Firecrackers panic Maggie

Fluevog and her husband searched with friends andeventually pin-pointed the black dog near theNanaimo SkyTrain station, but a race to rescue her failed.

"We rushed over but it was too late. In her panic, she had made her way to the platform and onto the tracks. Sky train staff tried to coax her off the tracks, but to no avail. She was hit by a train," Fluevogsaid.

The family were only able toretrievethe dog's collar, and the SkyTrain workers who tried to save her were upset by the incident, she said.

Fluevog warned other dog owners to keep their animals leashed or inside during firecracker season. She wishes people would not set the incendiaries off near dog parks at all.

Every year the B.C. SPCA warns dog owners to take precautions around Halloween.

• Keep pets inside: An indoor pet is a happy pet on fireworks night.
• Try putting them in a separate room with a radioto mask the sound of fireworks.
• Leave toys so pet does not think isolation ispunishment.
• Make sure your pet has identification.
• Leave them at home.