Tara Nowacki has shared how the use of fireworks affects her rescue dog, Zeus. Video / Supplied
A petition to ban the public sale of fireworks is being presented to Parliament today.
The Pawprint Petition has 93,248 human and a symbolic 79,904 pet signatures.
One dog owner said she plans to leave Auckland for two weeks around Guy Fawkes to protect her pet if the ban is not put in place.
An Auckland woman says she plans to pack up and leave with her dog for two weeks around Guy Fawkes if a petition to ban the public sale of fireworks does not succeed.
For weeks around holidays traditionally celebrated with fireworks, Zeus the rescue dog struggles to sleep and eat,and spends his evenings shaking, barking, whining and drooling in fear as bangs sound indiscriminately outside.
Meanwhile one of the petition organisers said she spoke to three people in late January who had pets die in the space of one week due to frights from unexpected fireworks.
The petition is being presented to National MP Greg Fleming on the steps of Parliament today, and is to be heard by the select committee for petitions.
Tara Nowacki said she used to not see any issue with private fireworks use, until she got her rescue dog and discovered how deeply affected he was by it.
“The way that it absolutely terrifies him to the point where he is shaking, he is crying, he is barking at nothing, he won’t sleep - it’s just blown me away, it’s changed my whole perspective,” she said.
Part of the issue was that fireworks use was never just for one night, and there was no knowing when they would start. Nowacki generally found there was a period of two weeks around Guy Fawkes when they were constantly being let off in her suburb of West Harbour.
Zeus, wearing a special coat and blanket, barks and whines as fireworks are let off outside his home.
“It’s actually the most stressful two weeks of my life. This year, if nothing happens with the petition, I’m actually going to leave Auckland for two weeks because it is so bad.”
Zeus refuses to eat his dinner and has to be wrapped in a coat designed to soothe dogs in a similar way a swaddle might for babies.
“I have to have that on and then I have to get everything organised, try and get him fed, try and get him toileted, try and get my own stress down, curtains closed, in his crate, dog music on the TV. Everything needs to be set up so, so early.”
Zeus was inconsolable when fireworks were going off, she said.
Nowacki is not against all fireworks use, but believes it should be restricted to publicly organised events people could attend, which pet owners would have forewarning about so they could be prepared or take their pets away.
The Pawprint Petition was launched by Animates in October last year and has since amassed 93,248 human signatures, and 79,904 pet signatures.
Zeus the rescue dog, owned by Auckland woman Tara Nowacki, is terrified of fireworks.
General manager of marketing, Nathalie Moolenschot, said the pet signatures - digital scans of paws, hooves and even bird feet - while not admissible for the petition, were gathered to emphasise that animals were the ones suffering from fireworks use. She said the technology used to gather them was a “world first” for petitions.
Moolenschot said the support for the petition had been huge, and some of the stories she heard from members of the public were heartbreaking.
“In late January, in that one particular week I had eight people contact me. Three had their pet pass away because of fireworks.”
She said the pets, which had all died in the space of that week, died from becoming entangled in a fence, being hit by a car, and by suffering a medical event when fireworks went off.
“That’s why it’s not about Guy Fawkes, it’s about the fact that the public can stockpile fireworks and have those fireworks let off at any time of year they choose to,” she said.
The majority of the feedback Animates has had on the petition was in support, though there were some people against it, she said.
“Some of them have been actually quite abusive. We had one try to do a smear campaign, but that’s what happens when you take a stand on something.”
Moolenschot emphasised the petition was not to ban fireworks altogether, just the sale of them to the public.
She wanted to send a message “for anyone who still has fireworks and has stockpiled them for use later this year to really think twice about what you’re doing and the impact you could be having on those around you when you light them.”
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
