epd/ | Animal welfare advocates call on people to refrain from fireworks on New Year’s Eve. “Some animals fall into a panic and try to escape the terrible noise and lights as quickly as possible,” said Sabrina Karl of the Four Paws Foundation. The Wildlife Foundation warns that, in addition to pets, wild animals are affected as well. They must also cope more often with the consequences of the bangs such as burnt-out fireworks and other litter.
For pet owners there are a few simple rules: Around New Year’s Eve, dogs should be walked in as quiet and uninhabited areas as possible. “It’s best to start the walk in the morning, because the first bangs and rockets are often fired as darkness falls,” Karl said.
At home, dogs and cats should be distracted. Windows should be well closed, blinds lowered, the expert recommends. Hiding places under the sofa also ease anxious animals’ stress from the fireworks. It is important to stay nearby and to support the animal if necessary. Free-roaming cats should stay indoors, as should rabbits, guinea pigs, or hamsters.
State of Emergency for Birds
Wildlife is put on alert by the fireworks, writes the Wildlife Foundation. That costs energy they urgently need during the food-scarce winter season. Red and roe deer, which lower their metabolism in winter, would have to exert themselves suddenly to flee.
Birds also wake from their roosts on New Year’s Eve. A study from Konstanz University has shown that several goose species on New Year’s nights rise 40 to 150 meters higher and fly an average of 5 to 16 kilometers farther than usual. Many change their roosting and feeding sites more often after New Year’s Eve and must take in more food in the following days to regain their strength.
Songbirds in cities collide with glass and building façades during escape. Foxes, hares, and wild boars can also react to the unfamiliar noise with flight or stress symptoms. Unlike pets, they can only be helped by limiting the bangs to a few places or banning them altogether.
