It’s no secret that Asheville is full of animal lovers and pet owners. In fact, previous reporting by the Citizen Times covered Asheville’s first-place ranking on a list of pet-friendly cities. Although the city is not in the path of the 2024 totality, some pet owners may be wondering if their animals will notice changes caused by the 85% partial eclipse, which peaks at 3:09 p.m. in Asheville.
According to scientists, anxious pet parents don’t have much to worry about during the eclipse. In fact, experts’ biggest concern for eclipse-related animal welfare isn’t coming from the sky at all.
Will the 2024 eclipse bother my pet?
Dr. Rena Carlson, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, discussed this in an article from USA Today. Carlson made it clear that most pets will likely be paying more attention to the energy around them than the sky.
“Rather than the effects of the eclipse, I would be more worried about the excitement and all of the people,” she said.
Veterinarians say that crowds of eclipse observers are more likely to confuse or upset your pet than the eclipse itself. Pets at home will likely be completely unaffected, and if you’re headed to a viewing event together, just make sure paying attention to your pet is a priority.
“Make sure they have plenty of fresh water, that they’re not overly crowded, that they’re kept on a leash and that they have a way to be recognized if they bolt off and get lost,” said Dr. Jerry Klein, chief veterinarian of the American Kennel Club.
As for concerns around your pet’s eyes, Klein reassured owners that the urge to observe the eclipse directly is a strictly human phenomenon. Animals have no reason to look at the sun, so there is no risk to their eyesight during the eclipse.
“They have an aversion to bright light. They will tend to not look at it unless we force them to do something that’s not beneficial to them naturally,” Klein said.
How do animals react to eclipses?
Though the correlation between pet behavior and eclipses isn’t heavily researched, the information that does exist seems to show that most animals aren’t strongly affected. One study released in March was conducted during the annular eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023. It reported behaviors in over 200 animals, mostly dogs.
Adam Hartstone-Rose, the professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University who conducted the research and who studies animal behavior during eclipses, said that responses from the animals could simply be based on individual personalities.
“About half of the people wrote that their dogs started barking or howling during the eclipse but half of the people said their dogs stopped barking and howling,” said Hartstone-Rose.
One observation from the same study may be a relief to concerned Asheville pet owners: Researchers observed that the higher the percentage of totality, the more likely owners were to observe reactions in their animals. This means that, according to this research, pets in partial eclipse areas such as Asheville are less likely to react.
How Asheville pet parents can help scientists understand
While this data is a good start, Hartstone-Rose said that the current sample size used for their study is too small to draw definitive conclusions from. The 2024 eclipse could be a perfect opportunity for scientists to learn more.
“We need much more data,” Hartstone-Rose said.
Researchers from the Solar Eclipse Safari project hope to receive observations from as many pet owners as possible on April 8. Visit scistarter.org/solar-eclipse-safari-resources to learn how to pitch in with information on your own pet, and keep an eye out for further data when the eclipse is over.
What will the eclipse look like?
Iris Seaton is the trending reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseason@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Could the partial eclipse in Asheville upset my pets?