This page was last revised on 2nd January 2005
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Fireworks are great fun for many humans who like that sort of thing or, as Ian says, like seeing their hard-earned money go up in smoke, but a nightmare for animals. Thankfully, there cannot be any more firework nightmares in 2004 (!) but no doubt someone will find an excuse to unleash a few more whizzbangs soon. If that someone is you, please remember that the noise and air pressure resulting from firework explosions can cause deep and genuine distress for dogs, cats and other animals. Please do not take animals to events where fireworks are going to be let off - leave them at home, preferrably with the television or radio on quite loudly so as to act as a kind of distraction from the mayhem going on outside.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has mounted a long campaign in an effort to minimise the misery of fireworks for animals. At long last, the UK Government has introduced legislation, but only time will tell whether that law will, or realistically ever can, be enforced. The RSPCA has welcomed the steps taken so far, but argues that they do not go far enough.
Visit the RSPCA's Fireworks Homepage
I'm quite lucky really. Ian and Julie aren't great firework fans either, so they tend to stay at home and make sure that I'm OK! It's nice and warm there - at least my gas fire works! My main complaint is that Bonfire Night in the UK (5th November - commemorating the Gunpowder Plot) seems to last from about 22nd October to 12th November, and the Night bit itself seems to begin at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon! New Year's Eve - another traditional fireworks night in the UK - started mid-afternoon again on 29th December! Ian has never lived in a war zone (thankfully!), but he is convinced some modern fireworks have the explosive effect of a small missile or bomb! Surely, someone somewhere has got to limit the noise these things make - preserving humans' enjoyment while making life more tolerable for us poor animals, especially those that have no alternative but to be outside.
Gemma isn't old enough yet to be frightened of fireworks so, on New Year's Eve, I tried not to show too much fear either - I don't want her thinking I'm a scaredy-cat or something (a scaredy-dog maybe, but not a cat!).