Cape Town - Animal welfare organisations have called on pet owners to keep their animals safe and out of harm’s way during Guy Fawkes celebrations, which sometimes go with fireworks.
The City of Cape Town has decided to forego designated sites for fireworks this year.
The discharging of fireworks is not allowed in terms of the Community Fire Safety By-law, but the City has, for a number of years, made an exception to accommodate this practice for Guy Fawkes, Diwali and New Year’s Eve.
This year, this is no long the case.
According to Allan Perrins, head of resource development and communications at the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa, said although the City had not designated sites for Guy Fawkes this year, there might be people who would use fireworks in residential areas, even if it was against the law to do so.
“The problem is that people will only get a R200 fine for using fireworks in residential areas, which is not enough to prevent people,” he said.
“We’ve found that many incidents with fireworks occur in Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Lansdowne, Delft and Philippi.”
Perrins said that fireworks had an adverse effect not only on dogs and cats, but on wild animals as well.
According to Cheryl Lyn Potgieter, founder of Cheryl Lyn’s Rescue, people should keep their animals indoors and under supervision on Guy Fawkes to prevent them running off.
“Sometimes the animals, especially dogs, get so terrified that they try and get themselves as far away from the sound as possible and as a result end up getting lost,” she said.
“It would also be advisable for pet owners to purchase calming medication for their pets.”