Sleaford woman among animal campaigners to petition Prime Minister to review firework rules to protect animals

Julie Doorne will among campaigners who visit the Prime Minister’s residence to hand-deliver a Change.org petition.

More than one million people have signed the petition, which calls on the Office for Product Safety and Standards to conduct an urgent review of firework regulations to further restrict their use, in order to prevent animal suffering.

Julie said: “Fireworks can cause serious distress to animals. They don’t only suffer psychologically, but also physically as many attempt to run away from, or hide from, the bangs. With extreme noise levels and people being able to let off fireworks any time of year, it’s difficult for those who care for animals to be able to put measures in place to protect their animals.”

Julie, an active animal rights campaigner, will be joined by representatives from the RSPCA, the British Horse Society, Redwings Horse Sanctuary, Dogs Trust, and Assistance Dogs UK.

Anyone wishing to sign the petition can find it at Change.org/ReviewFireworkRulesToProtectAnimals.

Julie, who started the petition, said: “Around 40 per cent of dogs are fearful of loud noises such as fireworks, meaning thousands of animals’ lives are made a misery by random fireworks, some starting in early October in the run up to Guy Fawkes night and continuing until the following January.

“Every year the RSPCA receives hundreds of calls about the terrible effect fireworks are having on animals - not just dogs and cats, but other pets, livestock and wildlife. There are also frequent reports of horses harming themselves by crashing into stable doors and over fences. These poor animals don’t understand what is causing the loud bangs and bright flashes.”

Julie claims the 2003 Fireworks Act and the 2004 Fireworks Regulations don’t do enough to protect animals and said they urgently need a review of fireworks regulations that should consider:

- Restricting private use (not just purchase) of fireworks to traditional dates such as November 5, New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali.

- Reducing the maximum permitted decibels for private use fireworks from 120, which is above the human pain threshold, to 97.

- Requiring all public fireworks displays to be licensed.

- Requiring fireworks packaging to be labelled indicating the noise level, to allow consumer choice.

In January 2018, the Government set up the Office for Product Safety and Standards after two Parliamentary debates, about the negative impact of fireworks, many months on Julie says there has been little movement on this issue.

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson on behalf of the OPSS said: “The safety of both pets and the public is our priority and that’s why we have launched a new fireworks safety campaign.

“Where issues with fireworks are identified, local councils and the police have powers to protect pets and the public from misuse and harm.”

The new fireworks safety campaign is supplementing existing guidance from Government and other organisations that is available to help people to use fireworks safely and appropriately.