With thousands of visitors predicted to be in St. Joseph for the total solar eclipse on the 21st, the St. Joseph Animal Shelter advises pet owners to use the same safety precautions they would during a holiday.

Animal Shelter Humane Educator Jenna Keyes said they cannot predict for sure how pets may act during the total solar eclipse.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research lately and… a lot of people out there are saying as far as your domestic pets like your dogs and your cats, some things to watch out for: a lot times they think it’s night so they go to sleep, they may calm down,” Keyes said. “Other people say it’s the opposite. They get really hyperactive, it causes them to be more excited during that short time period of the eclipse. Usually once it’s over, they go right back to doing their normal thing.”

Keyes said the eclipse may have more of an effect on birds, fish and wildlife.

“They say if you’re looking at your agricultural-type animals, your farm animals, that they tend to do their nighttime routine so they tend to get in their herds and fall asleep or cows will go to the barn, some interesting things like that,” Keyes said. “So it can really effect them all differently and depending on the animal itself too.”

Keyes recommends, as far as pets are concerned, to use the same safety precautions on August 21st as you would on a holiday such as the 4th of July.

“More worrisome than the eclipse itself is going to be the crowds that are a potential here in St. Joseph,” Keyes said. “Crowds can really stress out dogs who aren’t normally stressed out, so that’s something to consider if you’re planning on taking your dog outside with you, you may want to think about leaving it at home this time.”

Keyes said to talk with your veterinarian for any other safety tips for your pet during the day of the total solar eclipse including whether or not your pet should wear protective eyewear.

“You can put the glasses on them but pets don’t normally stare at the sun anyways, on a regular basis, so it’s likely that during the eclipse, they’re not going to be looking directly at the sun.”

Keyes said the animal shelter will still be open on Monday but to keep in mind that they may have slower response times trying to get through traffic.

A Union Star teen was killed in a crash with a tractor-trailer Thursday in Andrew County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 16-year-old Zachary T. Richey was driving a Ford Escape west on County Road 229 about six miles northwest of Union Star at 5:36 p.m. Thursday. Richey failed to stop at a posted stop sign and hit a tractor-trailer traveling north on Route M. Both vehicles came to rest on Route M and caught fire.

Richey was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:18 p.m.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, 31-year-old Robert D. Hill of Platte City was not injured.

According to the crash report, Richey was wearing a seat belt.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is warning people after a local resident fell victim to a scam after becoming friends with an unknown female over social media.

“A local man reported receiving a friend request on social media from an attractive and apparent adult female and they soon began conversing. This led to video chat and adult activity on-line. Subsequently the female claimed she was under legal age and has turned the man’s information over to the CIA, FBI, and local law enforcement for criminal arrest,” said Sheriff Steve Cox.

Cox said the female asked the man to wire her money for the complaint to go away.

“Unfortunately the victim did wire over $100 dollars, which was promptly collected overseas leaving no chance of getting his money back,” Cox said. “Please note, this man did not commit a crime, there is no investigation of anything involving a minor, and this is simply another SCAM with a different twist.”

Cox is advising people to protect their online activities.

“Remember people look for any way to steal your money,” he said.

The St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau is asking for help distributing eclipse guides ahead of an anticipated influx of people to the area.

Beth Conway, Dir. of Communications with CVB said with four days until the Total Solar Eclipse there were still around 300 cases of eclipse guides with 50 in a case left to distribute.

“There are thousands and thousands of people coming from everywhere so basically we’re asking for help from our community,” Conway said. “We’d really like help getting these visitors guides out to the public.”

She said they can be picked up at no cost at CVB locations at 104 S. 4th street or 502 Woodbine.

“Especially business owners, if you’ve got a place that visitors are going to be coming into, restaurants, hotels, shopping centers,” Conway said. “It talks mostly about the eclipse and all the events going on in St. Joseph during the eclipse, but it also has general information in it about lodging, about parks, about all of our great museums. It also has a map in the center of it.”

Around 75,000 guides have already been distributed. To view the digital guide CLICK HERE. For more information on the guides contact the CVB at (816) 233-6688.

In a short time of posting a question on Facebook Wednesday morning, the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau heard from dozens of people planning to travel to St. Joseph to view the Total Solar Eclipse.

The Eclipse 2017 St. Joseph, Missouri Facebook Page posted, “5 MORE DAYS!!! Who’s coming to #StJoMOEclipse and from where???”

“In two hours we’ve gotten 59 comments, very little city duplication on where people are traveling from and they’re coming from everywhere,” said Beth Conway, Dir. of Communications with the CVB. “It’s really shocking and exciting to see how vast the range is for people coming to St. Joseph for this eclipse.”

Conway said it’s hard to know exactly how many people will be in St. Joseph on Aug. 21, 2017 for the celestial event.

“We don’t and we never will.  We do know we’re 100 percent sold out in lodging for Sunday night and that’s about 1,200 hotel rooms so you can average four to a room,” Conway said. “What the facts are showing is that while we do know a lot of people are coming to St. Joe, a lot of people are staying with family and friends. While we can count lodging and count the camp grounds we won’t know all the people that come up and spend the night with friends and family and we won’t know the number of people who come up just for a day trip.”

While she said people will see a big increase in traffic Friday, she anticipates the biggest influx will take place Monday morning.

“Not just coming from Kansas City, coming down from Des Moines, coming down from Wisconsin, coming across from Chicago, definitely coming up from Texas, Arkansas seems like a really big draw,” she said.   “We’re encouraging people to leave just as early as they possibly can, if not the night before so they don’t get stuck in traffic.”

She said people from other countries have also messaged her to let them know they will be in town for the eclipse as well.

Eclipse observers in St. Joseph will see about 2 minutes and 38 seconds of totality.  CLICK HERE for more information on the eclipse in St. Joseph.