AS citizens in parts of the province stocked up on fireworks to celebrate Guy Fawkes this weekend, the City of uMhlathuze thankfully experienced a quiet one, with no ‘big bang’ reports or complaints.
Neither Empangeni nor Richards Bay SPCA experienced an influx of stray dogs or cats, with inspectors on duty reporting nothing out of the ordinary, and happy with the calm.
uMhlathuze Fire and Rescue said staff on duty did not receive any complaints on either Friday or Saturday nights.
While firework displays may be fun, the loud bangs affect animals, both wild and domestic, as their hearing is, for some animals, seven times more acute than that of humans.
Fireworks cause domestic dogs and cats great distress, often leading them to become impaled on spiked gates or fences, stuck on barbed wire and burglar bars, lost if they manage to get out of their property, or simply traumatised by the experience.
Wild animals also suffer and birds, usually nesting during these spring months, are driven to fly from their nests by the loud noises caused by fireworks.
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These birds often cannot find their way back to their nests, leaving hatched chicks unable to fend for, or feed themselves.
While City of uMhlathuze bylaws prohibit the use and discharging of fireworks without written permission, it is a bylaw often difficult to enforce.
Guy Fawkes is a British tradition and was historically celebrated throughout KZN, including Richards Bay and Empangeni.
More recently, however, there appears to have been a province-wide trend, and more noticeably within the City of uMhlathuze municipal area, away from the celebration of Guy Fawkes.
The current recession and the high cost of fireworks may also be a factor.
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