Fireworks should be banned in municipal areas

BARBERTON – New Year’s has come and gone but for some of our animal friends, both house pets and wildlife, the nightmare is far from over. Time and time again, fireworks have proven to be harmful to animals and the environment. Regardless, there are still many people in Barberton who continue to make use of this kind of entertainment, especially during the festive season.

According to Johann Venter of the SPCA, the use fireworks seems to increase with each passing year. “What these people refuse to acknowledge is that using fireworks within earshot of animals is cruel and cold-hearted, and since their hearing abilities are way better than ours ‘within earshot’ is almost everywhere. Fireworks should be banned all together,” said Venter “It is the cause of great terror and trauma amongst animals.”

“The shooting stars were nothing, but the bomb crackers were terrible. I wish one of them could have exploded next to that person’s eardrum,” local reader, Zanél Bean wrote on Barberton Times’ Facebook.
She said that they received tablets from the vet to calm their dog, but they were not effective, and suggested “I think we need to demarcate an area for those who feel the need to use fireworks.”

In a community policing article published by national police spokesperson Brig Phuti Setati on www.sapsjournalonline.gov.za, the following message, conveyed to all station commissioners, leaves no room for guesswork. Part of it reads as follows:

“Members of the community need to know that it is unlawful for any person to use or discharge any fireworks
– in any building or any public thoroughfare
– in any other public place or resort, except with the prior written permission of the local authorities.
“No person shall use or discharge any explosive, firearm or similar device which emits impulsive sound, or allow it to be used or discharged, if it may cause a noise or nuisance except with the prior consent in writing of the local authorities concerned and subject to such conditions as the local authorities may deem necessary.
Any person who by any act or omission commits a breach of any of the regulations of this Act, will be guilty of an offence and be held liable.”

According to Marlies Liebenberg, secretary of the SPCA, a request has been submitted to the municipality of Umjindi to have the existing bylaws, with regard to fireworks not being used in the boundaries of the municipal area, promulgated, but to date nothing has not been done.

Animal lovers and activists in Barberton are up in arms and are now asking why nothing is being done by the municipality. Laura Harrod and Hayley Dreyer asked, “Why aren’t the existing bylaws where fireworks are concerned being promulgated? If there is a law in Barberton that doesn’t allow people to use fireworks in town, something can also be done to the vendors illegally selling fireworks. We urge the municipality to take action, starting with the bylaws.”

Another Barbertonian wanted to know, “What happens if an accident occurs in one of the shops selling these fireworks and it results in the building catching fire – will the insurance of the neighbouring shops cover their damages? If not, will the businesses responsible be willing to pay?”

Apart from the damage and pain it causes animals, child labour is still used in India and China, which are the largest manufacturers of fireworks in the world. The situation is worsened because of all the fatalities that occur during the manufacturing of these ‘toys’.

Not only are the death rates of gunpowder-explosion burns in these factories very high, but according to the China Labour Bulletin, approximately half of all Chinese-manufactured fireworks don’t meet the basic quality and safety standards.
Before you open that next box of firecrackers again, consider some of the facts below, taken from www.voiceforthevoiceless.org.za:

The impact of fireworks on animals:
• Animals often suffer significant burns and eye damage
• Their sense of hearing is considerably more sensitive than the human ear and fireworks can permanently affect this
• Many are terrified of these noises and break free or jump fences to try and escape
• Those who flee often get lost or killed. Dogs are prone to being hit by cars and birds are prone to breaking their necks by flying into buildings
• Dogs are brought to shelters with paws bloody from running, torn skin from tearing through a backyard wooden fence or crippled from being hit by a car
• Most birds fly away in fright and nesting mothers endanger the well-being of nestlings when they cannot find their nest upon return
• Laying hens show extremely low egg production the day after fireworks and the eggs are often malformed
• Waterfowl become entangled in remnants of fireworks that land in waterways and ponds
• Fish ingest the debris and die, sometimes even causing the death of scavenging animals that eat them
• After fireworks, wildlife rehabilitators experience an increase in orphaned birds, squirrels, and other small mammals
• Even butterflies are at direct risk of becoming disoriented, injured, and killed.

General facts:
• Irresponsible use of fireworks poses a danger to both the people using them and innocent members of the public
• Firecrackers (25%), rockets (21%), and sparklers (11%) accounted for most of the injuries in emergency rooms during 2001
• Children are 11 times more likely to be injured by fireworks
• Fireworks explosions can cause tinnitus and even deafness
• Epileptics can experience seizures
• People who suffer from asthma experience discomfort
• Bottle rockets are the single greatest cause of eye injuries, requiring hospitalisation. They are particularly dangerous because their flight path is erratic, their fuses are non-standard and their explosive power is enough to turn a ‘launch site’ bottle or can into shrapnel
• Sparklers can ignite clothing and hair. Three sparklers burning together create the heat of a blow torch.

Voice for the Voiceless strives to raise public awareness on the harm that fireworks inflict on people, domestic animals, wildlife and the environment.