Benoni animal organisations give report on effects of firework displays

The City Times spoke to Benoni’s animal welfare organisations to find out how the community’s animals were affected by fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

The Benoni SPCA took in more animals than usual over the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Vicky Finnemore, Benoni SPCA manager, said she does not know if this increase was a coincidence or if the animals were disturbed by the fireworks, but noted that the SPCA took in about 15 animals in the space of 24 hours between December 31 and January 1.

“Crackers went off from the 30th until the evening of the 1st,” she said.

According to Finnemore, the number of animals signed over to the SPCA typically increases over the holiday season.

She attributes this to people going away on holiday who don’t know what to do with their pets.

“A lot of cats are also breeding now, so we are receiving litters of kittens at this stage.”

Charmaine Woest, one of the directors of the Benoni Animal Rescue Center (Barc), said the centre’s Facebook page received about 10 messages from owners looking for their pets during the New Year celebrations.

“Fireworks should be banned, nothing is being done for our animals,” she said.

Barc gave their foster animals calming medication before the fireworks started.

Annalise Jungmann, one of the directors of The Animal Guardians (Tag), said although some people feel the fireworks were worse than in previous years, she found this New Year’s Eve less disruptive.

But she said fireworks are always distressing for animals.

“Our kennel dogs were highly agitated,” she said, adding that Tag administered calming medicine since Christmas and used volunteers to help calm the animals during the fireworks displays.

Tag deployed six patrol cars on New Year’s Eve to search for distressed animals all over Benoni. They found two, one of which was returned to its owner.

A Yorkshire terrier is still looking for its owner.

According to Jungmann, the Facebook and WhatsApp groups that Tag belongs to were rampant with hundreds of posts regarding missing and injured pets.

“Some animals were run over by cars as they escaped their yards, and some injured themselves trying to escape from yards.”

The SPCA urges members of the public to look for their missing pets at the kennels, because the society has been taking in numerous stray animals, and owners do not always go to the kennels to look for them.

“It should be the first place you look,” said Finnemore.

The Benoni SPCA is situated at 3 Klein Street, Lakefield.