I am writing to you as I am extremely concerned resident in your
council area about the misuse of fireworks and their impact on
animals. As an animal lover I really do feel more needs to be done
to protect their welfare.
While I understand that they can bring much enjoyment to some
people, they can cause significant injury, problems and fear for
other people and animals. In particular the sudden, loud noises
that many fireworks make can cause fear. The RSPCA supports
measures which will help ensure people can enjoy fireworks
responsibly while mitigating potentially significant animal welfare
problems for pets, horses, farm animals and wildlife.
It would be great if you could encourage your fellow councillors to
pass a motion similar to this to improve animal welfare in this
area
Started by: Colin Davis (RSPCA)
This ePetition ran from 23/10/2019 to 05/11/2019 and has now finished.
3 people signed this ePetition.
Dealing with each point :
1) to require all public firework displays within the local
authority boundaries to be advertised in advance of the event,
allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and
vulnerable people,
By their nature, most public displays are well publicised. Public
firework displays do not require a licence from the County Council.
In order to “require all public firework displays within the
local authority boundaries to be advertised in advance” some
form of legislative control on public fireworks displays would need
to be put in place. The HSE provide guidance on the factors to
consider when organising such an event, http://www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/fireworks/using.htm
2) to actively promote a public awareness campaign about the impact
of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people –
including the precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks
Please find attached CC advice currently available on the County
Council website
A range of well publicised animal welfare charities provide advice
and raise awareness around the impact of fireworks on animal
welfare and vulnerable people
For example:
Blue Cross: https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/fireworks-and-pets
PDSA:
https://www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/all-pets/pets-and-fireworks
RSPCA https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/general/fireworks
3) to write to the UK Government urging them to introduce
legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB
for those sold to the public for private displays.
There would need to be some rationale for the limit and some
evidence to show why this limit is appropriate , the RSPCA are in
the best position to influence government in animal welfare
issues
4) to encourage local suppliers of fireworks to stock
‘quieter’ fireworks for public display.
The CC licence firework stores to ensure fireworks are stored
safely and to ensure retailers understand the controls already in
place
The majority of licenced retailers can only sell fireworks between
15th October and 10th November, and 26th December and 31st
December, Diwali and Chinese New Year, there are two stores within
Staffordshire who are licenced to sell fireworks all year
round
The County Council ensure fireworks meet the safety criteria and
are only sold to adults , we also ensure fireworks licences are
only issued to those who are fit to hold them,
The Government are responsible for the content of the law which
controls the fireworks and sets the standards the manufacturers and
importers must comply with . The RSPCA believe that further
research is needed to properly understand the impact of noise on
animals without that research its unlikely to be
successful.