You see, right now my wife and I do not have any kiddies, and our two dogs form our canine replacements until we do.
I don’t know about all of you readers, but our dogs are rather spoilt. No doggie bed for them, no sir, our two mutts sleep on the bed with daddy. But I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love my dogs. Not so sure if my wife appreciates having to sleep in the doggie bed to make space for the mutts, but hey, we all have sacrifices to make in a marriage. (Methinks the dog box is where I will be sleeping after this column is published…)
For my wife and I, we would kill anyone who hurt our babies, we really would. And I am sure that for most of you reading this, you feel the same about your four-legged babies. And your two-legged ones as well.
But what makes me mad are the crazy fools out there who delight in setting of fireworks, despite the fact that they are in a residential area, teeming with dogs, cats, bunnies and whatever else people have for pets. It is a well-known fact that a dog’s hearing is hundreds of times more sensitive than a human’s. So if we get a fright from some of the big bangs, one can only wonder how loud it must be for a dog. Must sound like an artillery shell landing nearby.
I’m all for fun and laughter, really I am. Over the festive season I indulged in two beers in one night, so I’m not a complete fuddy-duddy. But I draw the line at doing things that will cause pain to animals. Animals do not have the ability to tell you what is scaring them. And with the noise of artillery shells landing all around them, is it any wonder why so many pets go missing over the festive season?
Thank goodness I have not read any reports of animals actually being injured (or tortured) with fireworks this year. Any sort of animal abuse gets my blood boiling. But let’s break it down a little further, if abusing an animal is causing it pain, then setting off fireworks would also constitute animal abuse – the loud bangs cause the animal pain and distress.
So to all of you who delighted in setting off fireworks in residential areas, you are actually animal abusers. I hope you feel proud of those loud bangs and pretty displays in the sky now.
Is it really that hard to be marginally considerate to others? Is it that hard to consider what harm your fireworks may be doing to animals? Given the fact that the Kempton Park area sounded like Normandy over New Years suggests it must be very difficult to consider anyone else.
South Africa has huge open areas to let off fireworks in a controlled environment – just ask Julius, he wants to give all the land to his buddies.
I am not suggesting no fun, no parties over New Year’s eve, really I’m not. All I’m asking for is a little bit of responsibility. And don’t even get me started on drinking and driving – that will be a column for another day.
To the SPCA and other pet organisation volunteers – thank you for all the hard work you are doing to protect and look after our pets, especially when they escape our homes.
Thank you for being the guardian angels for our pets.
