06/11/2023
This this this.
I’ll give you one day a year if you can explain to my dog that the world isn’t coming to an end and he is totally safe.
I will admit that as young kid I enjoyed fireworks but I had no idea of the impact that fireworks had on my beloved animals. I don’t recall just letting off fireworks w***y nilly. It was a special event, maybe with a bonfire, and friends and family. It wasn’t in built up residential areas. It wasn’t is a small city back yard.
I know people will say “it is only one night a year” and “you know it is coming”. “Keep your animals inside”. “Distract them”. “I have never had a problem with my dog”. “In my experience it based on the way the owner acts, if you are calm your dog will be calm”.
I have 3 dogs. 2 are completely fine and one, over the last 3 years, who has started to have fear and anxiety, and each year it gets worse. I am calm. I have worked on desensitisation and counter-conditioning. My dog can listen to fireworks at a reasonable volume with no signs of fear or anxiety. He has anxiolytics. I use Adaptil and Tryptophan chews. He has a compression vest. I have lights on, curtains closed, and tv on. I comfort him. I try to feed him but the only thing he’ll eat isn’t good for him in large amounts. (if you know my dogs you can probably guess)
He gets so scared. He needs me to have hands on him at all times. He will rake my arms, legs and last night even my face when I am not touching. I have multiple bruises and scratches.
His fear upsets one of my other dogs, who tries to reduce his anxiety levels with typical dog behaviours. It generally ends in a fight.
Fireworks may not be scary to you because you know what it is all about. It can be explained to you in a language you understand. You know what to expect and how long it will last. No human can speak dog. No one can explain this to a dog.
I also wonder how many of the people who say my dog isn’t bothered actually has zero understanding of dog behaviour, and would they actually notice if their dog had low levels of stress.
You are hearing it in normal human hearing – dogs hear more frequencies than we do. They can hear sounds that are too quiet for our hearing, too high pitched, and frequencies that are too low to be heard by the human ear. The dog’s ear is much more sensitive than ours. Essentially it is impossible for us to say the sound isn’t that bad.
Actual fireworks aren't just about noise though, there is also lights and strange smells.
The smell, to us it may be the smell of gunpowder, or rotten eggs. We are unable to appreciate what these could smell like to a dog. Yes, some dogs are more familiar with the smell of gunpowder but the vast majority of dogs aren’t. They may not get the rush or joy of the smell that some working dogs will get. It could, and does cause fear in dogs.
Now this is all from the point of view of a dog owner who has a fearful dog when it comes to fireworks. I would still want a ban of fireworks even if all of my dogs were fine.
What about the amazing native birds we have that die from stress or injury during fireworks season? We are lucky enough to have kiwi released into the Wellington bush, how does fireworks affect them.
What about horses, cows, goats, cats, sheep, alpaca, deer and the thousands of other animals we share our country with, our homes with?
Worse still it isn’t one day. It doesn't occur in a safe environment. Guy Fawkes is one night but so far my dogs and I have endured 3 days of fireworks at all hours of the day and night. During shining sun, wind, and rain, in close proximity to my house in a residential suburb of Wellington, and on multiple sides of my house at the same time.
So yes I would give you just one night if you could explain it to all those animals but you can’t. And it is never just one night.
