As a kid, I loved fireworks. I’d make my parents brave the traffic every New Year’s Eve to see the downtown display and we’d trek across the nearby field to watch the event held every July at a nearby school.
But admittedly, my opinion has soured since then. I’m not against the big public events. They’re great, but having a highly reactive dog in a neighborhood with a lot of people who use backyard fireworks has definitely made me dread fireworks-heavy holidays.
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My household is a pretty good example of how dogs can vary in their opinions of loud noises.
During thunderstorms and fireworks, my one dog freaks out. He trembles in fear, pants and paces, and during bad panic attacks, will scream and try to beat down doors to escape.
My other dog doesn’t care at all and sleeps through the whole thing.
A 2015 study of 5000 dogs found that 21% of dogs showed “very strong signs” of being fearful during fireworks, more than even gunshots, which only got 14%.
Every year, we hear stories about dogs who have been hurt or lost during their panicked attempts to escape fireworks.
And before the events, pet owners are reminded to keep reactive animals inside and protected.
But some pet owners don’t think they should have to carry the entire burden of protecting their pets.
The latest story comes from Margaret Adams, an 85-year-old Scottish woman who is trying to get stronger limits put on the sale of fireworks and who can use them when.
Her Labrador-mix Suzy has a serious phobia of fireworks and it all came to a head on a particularly noisy Bonfire Night.
It started the way she expected, with Suzy trying “to climb the walls and go into a dark corner.”
Which pretty much sounds like how my own dog reacts.
You comfort where you can, but mostly it’s just about making it through the worst of the explosions.
“I didn’t notice anything until the next day when her eyes looked different,” Margaret said, “so I took her to the vet and she had actually popped a lens in her eye.”
The vet was forced to remove the lens and complications have since led to Suzy developing severe glaucoma in both eyes.
She has also gone blind in both eyes.
Margaret is sharing Suzy’s story to support the ongoing petition for Parliament to ban the sale of fireworks to the general public and keep them contained to authorized events.
As of this writing, the petition has over 300,000 signatures.
However, the petition was forced to be closed early due to the now upcoming General Election in the UK.
It’s not just about dogs, either.
“Even war veterans are suffering. These fireworks are light bombs going off. The poor veterans, it brings it all back to them. It’s not just animals.”
Hopefully, whoever wins the UK election will return to this issue and consider the ideas presented.
h/t: Metro
