Your Pet
Dog owners, you’re in luck: About 50 percent of burglars say the mere presence of a dog would keep them from robbing a house. And that goes for small, noisy dogs as well as larger, threatening-looking ones.
But if it’s clear that your home has a cat—say, you have a cat-themed car bumper sticker, scratching posts visible through your windows, or a kitty door—your home could become a target.
Burglars might look for windows that you keep open for the cat or assume that if you’re a cat person, you’re less likely to have a dog. Plus, some really desperate (and thin) crooks have been known to sneak into houses through the kitty door! So no matter much you love your cat, it might be safest not to broadcast it to your whole neighborhood.
