Dog chews through kennel to escape fireworks

A Redhill resident and kennel owner has expressed her anger after a dog, terrified of the booming fireworks on New Year’s Eve, frantically bit through its kennel just to escape the loud bangs, Northglen News reports.

Anita van Rensburg, who runs the Punzo Kennels and Cattery on Belvedere Road in KwaZulu-Natal, said the four-year-old labrador, Roxy, had bitten through galvanised steel just to escape her kennel and find shelter under a car parked in the yard.

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Van Rensburg said the terrified pooch had lost several of its bottom teeth and had created a small hole in the kennel for her to escape through.

“I was horrified because I could hear the howling of all the dogs in my care and the intensity of this year’s fireworks was the worse I’ve seen. I live right on the border of Chris Hani Road (North Coast Road) so the fireworks were at its worst. When I came out of the house to try and calm the 14 other dogs I had in my care, I discovered Roxy. She had cuts to her nose and her neck because she had squeezed through the kennel gate.

“She was bleeding from the mouth because she had lost several of her teeth during her escape attempt. I kept going to each kennel to try and calm the dogs. The saddest part is many of the dogs in my care were from owners who live in areas where fireworks are at the loudest and most intense,” she said.

Van Rensburg said the galvanised metal is 4 millimetres thick.

Redhill kennel owner, Anita van Rensburg picks up the pieces of metal fence that a terrified pooch chewed through to escape the fireworks.

She explained a large number of domestic pets, birds and wildlife will suffer severe stress as they do anything to escape the terrifying explosions, sometimes injuring themselves in the process.

“Animals’ ears are incredibly sensitive to sound. They will shake and hyperventilate at sudden, loud noises and, believing their lives are in danger. They will do anything to escape, often with disastrous consequences. The sounds trigger their nervous systems, and they can become anxious or afraid. Running away from the noise is a survival instinct,” she said.

Roxy is expected to make a full recovery but the trauma experienced, Van Rensburg explained, will be with her for a long time to come.

SPCA receives strays after New Year’s fireworks

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