New Year's holidays are usually associated with a Christmas tree, gifts, olive salad and, of course, powerful fireworks. If for someone these are integral symbols of cheerful winter holidays, then for animals it is a real shock. Dogs run away from their owners, afraid of explosions of firecrackers and fireworks. Why are pyrotechnics dangerous for animals? ElitExpert talked about this with Julia Ignatenko, a volunteer of "Animals SOS Odessa" OO.
It appeared on the website of the President of Ukraine petition, where Ukrainians are asking to officially ban festive firecrackers and fireworks. The girl thinks it's long past time to ban celebrating holidays with pyrotechnics. After all, something terrible is happening to animals at this time.
"I have a very bad attitude towards firecrackers and explosions, as well as my animals. I have many wards. I haven't been able to go anywhere on New Year's for 11 years and I'm sitting at home with my cats. They are very stressed - they hide, run, I have to calm them down and give them sedatives," says Yulia Ignatenko.
Julia notes that she is waiting for the New Year with fear rather than with joy. On this night, they always receive announcements about the loss of animals. In vet clinics, New Year's holidays are associated with a large number of "losses". It is already traditional to bring those who were frightened by pyrotechnic explosions, ran away from their owners or broke off a chain.
"Dogs react very poorly to firecrackers, because it's a loud sound. They do not understand what is happening and the dog starts to panic, just like cats. They break off their leashes and run headlong. They have no idea why it's all rattling. Not only are these dogs in a state of shock, they often get hit by cars. "On the 29th or 30th, it starts to rumble - the dogs are already running," the volunteer noted.
People also suffer from pyrotechnic explosions. During the winter holidays, the statistics of injured people are many times higher. People come to trauma centers with gouged eyes and mutilated hands. This year, four residents of Odessa, Izmail and Belgorod-Dniester injured their hands with fireworks. Among them are two men and two children aged 9 and 11. Pensioners and front-line soldiers suffer from this.
"All these 40-second explosions of these firecrackers cause great harm to people - the elderly, small children, people exposed to stress, with problems with cardiovascular diseases. These firecrackers and explosions are in principle an inhumane action, because such a number of injuries and dead animals does not occur in any other period of the year. Until the ban on the sale of pyrotechnics is adopted at the legislative level, we will not leave it," Ignatenko added.
The initiators of the petition insist on the closure of pyrotechnic shops. And for non-fulfillment of the requirement, violators should be fined 15 hryvnias.
In a week, the petition collected almost 5 votes. In order for it to be reviewed by the president, it is necessary to collect 000. However, this is not the first request to ban fireworks. The last similar petition received 25 thousand votes and was not considered by either the head of the country or the Cabinet of Ministers. In this petition, there is still time to collect the necessary number of votes - a little more than two months.
