A McAllen family said they're heartbroken after their dog of nearly six years ran away on Christmas Eve.

“We're all very distraught over it,” Jake Mejia said.

Mejia said the family rescued Gaston, an Anatolian shepherd mix, in 2019 after they found him on the streets severely underweight.

Since bringing him home, they've known Gaston was always shy and calm.  

Gaston and the family's other three dogs were in the backyard on Christmas Eve when fireworks went off nearby. They believe Gaston got scared. 

“The fireworks were so loud that it made him go through two different barriers and got out and just ran,” Mejia said.

Mejia said they didn't notice Gaston was missing until the next morning, but they’ve been searching tirelessly for Gaston ever since.

“We went everywhere from Bentsen to Taylor, Shary, down to Nolana — just pretty much everywhere in that area,” Mejia said. “Going through all the neighborhoods, walking around on foot by the canal that's behind our neighborhood, I walked about a mile up and down that canal calling for him."

Mejia said the family normally takes extra precautions with their dogs during firework-heavy holidays such as Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve.  

“When those days are coming up, we know to start locking up the dogs, start putting them away so that way they don't run away," Mejia said. “It's not really something we expected on Christmas."

With less than a week until the New Year's holiday, the Palm Valley Animal Society said calls for stray pets increase during this time of year.

Jay Garza, PVAS’ director of community development, said at any time fireworks can frighten pets, causing them to panic and run away.

“It startles them. It gives them a lot of anxiety. It gives them fear. And what does anybody want to do when they're experiencing anxiety and fear? They want to hide,” Garza said. “They want to be in a safe place.”

To keep pets safe, Garza recommends keeping them indoors, increasing background noise to distract them, using weighted vests for comfort, and consulting a vet about medication if needed.

“See if the vet can assist with any type of medication to keep your pets calm. There are also a lot of natural remedies that you can get over the counter at the vet stores that have natural relaxing or stress de-stressing agents in them as well," Garza said.

Garza also recommends microchipping pets.

Mejia said Gaston wasn't microchipped, but the family will keep searching for him. 

“We're hoping through community effort that we're able to locate Gaston and we're able to find him,” Mejia said.

Watch the video above for the full story.