Dogs don’t love fireworks. Make sure your pets are safe and secure on July 4th

Jef Harmatz Jef Harmatz Send an email July 3, 2025

Independence Day is a beloved American holiday, but it can be a nightmare for dogs. Fireworks, both legal and illegal, can irritate, agitate, and aggravate pups and pooches of all sizes. Here at Z107.7, where it’s our job to keep track of Cruisin’ Critters, we know that July 4 is the single worst day for dog escapes in the entire calendar year. Station Music Director Cody Joseph says he’s sees the numbers go up as soon as the sun goes down.

Cody: “Every single 4th of July, literally on the 4th of July, starting right around 10:00 p.m. we see a big uptick in online submissions of Cruis’n Critters. And those are the ones that really break my heart, because at 10:00 o’clock at night, we’re not even able to do a Cruis’n Critter report, and we will see a huge uptick. And then for the next couple days, we’ll see a big uptick for close to at least a week. We will be just inundated with reports that we have of mostly dogs, but sometimes also cats that have gotten out. They jumped the fence, maybe they dug out. 

“It’s just a good reminder, even if you have a dog, even if your dog is super mellow, make sure they have their collar on, make sure they have their tags, so that if for whatever reason they do get out, it’ll be easier to get them back. With our Cruis’n Critter report, a lot of the dogs that we end up hearing about are the dogs that don’t have a collar, don’t have a tag, because if they have the collar and the tag, the first thing you’re going to do is call the number on the tag. If they don’t have any of that, a lot of times that’s when we end up getting the Cruis’n Critter reports that we receive.

“Hands down: 4th of July is our biggest day for critters to go missing and we get a lot of reports.”

Jef Harmatz Jef Harmatz Send an email July 3, 2025
Jef Harmatz

Jef Harmatz

Jef Harmatz is the co-host of Z107.7’s “Morning Show with Cody and Jef” and Z107.7’s News Director. He has worked as a journalist, cartoonist, chef, and delivery driver. He is known nationally for his writing and comics in publications like TimeOut, Popula, Roadtrippers, Solrad and Spiralbound, and for his album covers for Third Eye Blind and Sir Sly. He is known locally for his pop-up barbecue restaurant Hot Dog Panic. He remains unknown in the field of beekeeping, because he is too afraid of being stung to try it. When not on the radio, he draws comics and self-publishes little books. He lives with his partner and his dog Sunday in Yucca Valley, where he cooks them both elaborate meals.