Your Home Security System and Alarm Company Internet Resource

Years ago, home security systems and pets did not make a good combination. Anyone who owned a pet and had an alarm system installed in their home was sure to get at least one or two phone calls a week from their alarm monitoring company or their neighbors letting them know that their alarm was going off. Nine times out of ten, the false alarms that the homeowner was called out on had to do with the family pet tripping their alarm system, not a burglar.

After a while, those who started to experience false alarms caused by their pets decided to leave their home security systems disarmed when they left their homes. This not only meant that the integrity of the home alarm system was lost, but it also gave burglars the perfect opportunity to get in and out of the home unnoticed while the alarm system was disarmed.
Why were so many false alarms caused by pets and home security systems? For one, the devices that were installed in homes back then were not as sophisticated as they are now. Motion detectors could not tell the difference between Lucy the Cat or Bob the Burglar. If the family pet even walked within a certain range of the older motion detectors, they would trigger. Today’s home security systems can be equipped with pet-friendly motion detectors that would be able to tell the difference between a burglar and the family pet.

Home security systems that had wired screens on them were also prone to false alarms caused by the family pets, cats in particular. Homeowners that wanted to protect their windows in the past had very little options available. One of the options was to have their window screens wired. When the screens were tampered with, an alarm would sound. Unfortunately, the majority of alarms from these screens were caused by curious cats scratching at them.

Newer technology allows homeowners with pets the opportunity to customize their home security systems with window protection such as glassbreak sensors or contacts and transmitters. Not only are these newer technology alarm devices pet friendly, they also aid in false alarm reduction.

If you have pets, don't go without an alarm system just because you think that they will cause false alarms. Speak to all potential alarm companies when getting quotes and be sure to let them know you have pets in your house before they proceed with an installation. Pet friendly alarm devices are inexpensive and should be installed on all home security systems, especially in homes with multiple pets living in them.