SAN DIEGO -- The sound of fireworks from Fourth of July celebrations Friday could frighten family pets and cause them to run away, the operators of Rancho Santa Fe's Helen Woodward Animal Center warned.

"Even the echo and sound of fireworks several miles away can terrify a family pet," said center spokesman John Van Zante. "If they don't have a safe place to hide, or if there's a way for them to run out a door or escape over a fence, your pet could be gone."

More family pets will run away from home Friday than any other day of the year because of fireworks, according to the HWAC.

Van Zante offered the following tips to protect pets:

don't take pets to fireworks displays

bring pets indoors before fireworks displays begin

make sure pets have access to their "safe place" or find a quiet comfortable, enclosed room where they can hide

leave the radio or television on for background noise.

Van Zante also encouraged pet owners to get their animals micro-chipped.

"Many pets that run away during the fireworks slip out of their collars," he said. "A micro-chip I.D. with correct contact information assures that your pet can be returned if it ends up at a shelter."