Cape Town - Every year during Guy Fawkes Day celebrations, animals are adversely affected, and this year was no different.
Animal Welfare Society of South Africa spokesperson Allan Perrins said they logged about 100 incoming calls and made many external calls to Law Enforcement, who were helpful on the night.
He said many of the calls came from concerned and desperate pet owners without access to social media seeking their help and advice on how to calm their pets.
“Many of these calls came from Delft pet owners. In our opinion, Delft represented the epicentre of animal cruelty on Guy Fawkes Day,” said Perrins.
He said animals were terrified by fireworks with a loud bang as well as those that emit bright lights.
Perrins added many animals flee and, in the process, become injured. Others become lost and disorientated.
“Physical injuries ranged from life-threatening to minor lacerations. All of our patients were severely traumatised and stressed at the time of admission,” he said.
Perrins said a German Shepherd tried to jump a fence and cut their right foot and ripped pads open, a cat ran off and cut her left front leg on a piece of discarded glass or metal, and a cross-breed dog tried to jump a fence and got impaled and was found hanging by the penis and had to be heavily sedated before they could safely extricate him.
He said fireworks should be banned. Several municipalities have already set a precedent. Guy Fawkes is a senseless event celebrated by hooligans.
Perrins said it seems so unfair that caring pet owners whose pets suffered harm and injury due to the actions of a lawless minority must now foot the care bills of their injured pets.
“These veterinary bills are very likely to be significantly more than the puny fines metered out to law breakers,” he added.
Mdzananda Animal Clinic general manager Heidi May said they had not received trauma cases yet, but other clinics have reported an increase of reports of lost animals.
She said animals have a much higher sound detection, and fireworks sound a lot louder and more frightening to them than to us. This loud bang sound drives them into a panicked frenzy, and their need to get away from it will often result in them running away.
“This can end up quite disastrous as they can run into traffic and get injured or worse killed,” said May
She advised people to keep their pets indoors on fireworks nights, make sure they are wearing a collar with their name and contact number on in case they get out or that they are micro-chipped and also begged people to please stop the fireworks.
Weekend Argus