Fireworks alert for pets

SAFEGUARD: Whangarei SPCA centre manager Francine Shields wants people to think about animals before letting off fireworks. Photo / Michael Cunningham

To ensure this Guy Fawkes is a blast, Northlanders are being urged to bear in mind the safety of their four-legged friends.

Today is the last day of fireworks sales nationally and the Whangarei SPCA is calling on locals to take actions to prevent injuries to animals, including keeping cats and dogs indoors, securing stock and communicating with neighbours.

"Every year animals run away and don't come home, or are found injured, or worse, dead," Whangarei SPCA's centre manager, Francine Shields said.

"Animals don't have the foggiest idea [what is going on]. The noise, the lights, the smell - it's all highly traumatic."

A horse was killed in Hamilton on Saturday, after it was spooked by a public fireworks display and hit by a car, she said.

"You get a distraught animal on the road, and they're pretty dangerous."

She's urging people to communicate with neighbours so they have time to prepare animals before fireworks are let off.

"Let people move their livestock as far away as possible or put them in a barn, and so they can shut their cats and dogs indoors. If you've got an animal that could get out, put a tag on it with a name and number so we can find its home as soon as possible."

People who find a spooked animal should cover it with a blanket and put it somewhere where it can't run away, before calling the pound, the SPCA, or its owners.

Tips for calming pets that are indoors when fireworks are let off include darkening the rooms and turning the TV or radio on. Instead of letting fireworks off at home, she's urging people to attend the Whangarei Lions Clubs Fireworks Spectacular public display at Toll Stadium on Saturday.

Whangarei fire safety officer Craig Bain agrees.

"From our perspective our preference is for people to go to a public display."

For people choosing to let fireworks off at home, Mr Bain advises to keep a bucket of water on hand, read the instructions with the light of a torch (not a lighter) and if fireworks fail, not to re-light them.