Is your pet door burglar-proof?

A pet door – also referred to as a cat flap or doggie door – is a small opening in a wall, window or human door that allows pets to enter and exit the home on their own. They’re a popular convenience for owners who don’t feel like getting up every fifteen minutes to let animals in and out. Unfortunately, these unsecured openings can also prove an enticing target to criminals, who can climb through them, reach up and unlock the door, or simply use the opening as a weak point to create a larger hole.

Pet door burglaries
Burglary by pet door isn’t terribly common, but it isn’t unheard of either. In fact, earlier this year, the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles saw a rash of pet door burglaries. In this particular instance, the criminals were using the dog doors as a starting point and then cutting a larger opening around them, which local police said was a new tactic.

More commonly, criminals either climb through the doggie door if it’s large enough, or reach up through the flap to unlock the door. Less precise criminals may also simply kick in the doggie door to create a big enough opening. This was the case earlier this year in Carlsbad, California, where a teenage girl who was home alone preferred to ignore a man and a woman knocking at her door. Moments later, when she heard them kicking in the pet door at the back of the house, she escaped out her second-storey bedroom window and leaped from the first-storey garage roof. Thanks to her quick thinking, the teen was able to escape unharmed and police captured the suspects with stolen goods in hand.

Pet door safety tips
Obviously, the best way to prevent criminals from entering through your pet door is to simply not have one, but that’s not a workable solution for everyone. If you do decide to install a pet door, there are several ways to limit the risk of unauthorized entry. First, get the smallest size of door that your pet can reasonably fit through. If you have a pet door that’s too big, you can cheaply downsize it by using a bar to block off part of it. Once it’s as small as it can go, check if you can reach your door lock by extending an arm through the flap; if so, install another deadbolt higher up on the door.

If you’re willing to spend a little more, there are more secure doggie door options on the market. Rather than the traditional flap-covered opening, PetSafe, for example, has a line of Electronic SmartDoors, which are only unlocked by a radio-frequency fob worn on your pet’s collar. SureFlap, meanwhile, uses your cat’s existing microchip to signal the door to unlock. These have the added advantage of keeping out strays and even raccoons.

If Fluffy or Rover is not the guard dog or cat you had hoped for, take a few moments to ensure your pet door is secure. As is so often the case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and time spent securing your pet door against unwanted visitors certainly pays off down the line, in terms of both home security and peace of mind.