Animals Suffer from New Year's Fireworks and Firecrackers

Impact on Pets and Wildlife

Pets and wildlife – especially birds – are heavily affected by the use of pyrotechnic materials.
The use of firecrackers and fireworks on New Year’s Eve is a tradition for many people in Spain as ingrained as toasting with cava or eating the twelve grapes. It is harmless for most people, but its effect can be harmful, even lethal, for some animals, reports Tiempo de Canarias.

Pets and wildlife – especially birds – are heavily affected by pyrotechnic materials, whose noise, according to animal‑rights lawyer Cristina Bécaras, “is a negative, unpredictable stimulus that they do not understand,” causing “unease, stress, panic, paralysis, attempts to escape” in domestic animals and – in extreme cases – death from cardiac arrest.

“They (the animals) feel that they are going to die; they don’t know when the noise will stop or when it will start again, they don’t understand it and you can’t explain it to them,” lamented photographer and environmental activist Estela de Castro in an interview with EFE.

Regulation of Sale and Use

Pyrotechnic items are regulated by Organic Law 4/2015 and by the Regulation of Pyrotechnic Articles and Cartridges, which classifies products by hazard level and minimum age, while setting strict rules for their manufacture, storage and commercialization, but not as much for their use.

These state regulations can be modified by autonomous communities and municipalities, which have the freedom to lower the established ages and, more importantly, to issue ordinances that limit their use.

The most restrictive cases, explained to EFE by lawyer María Dolores Muñoz of the association Juristas Contra el Ruido, are found in some cities such as:

• Madrid (city‑wide bans)
• Barcelona – prohibited in green areas and a recommendation not to use them
• Vitoria‑Gasteiz – use allowed for only 15 minutes on New Year’s

For example, in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) the launch of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices is prohibited during the holiday season to avoid disturbances to people and pets; violations of the municipal regulation are penalized with fines up to €750.

Animals’ Hearing

Last summer, veterinary experts advised special attention to pets during the bonfires of San Juan, as up to 50 % of dogs are affected by firecrackers and fireworks.

The hearing of dogs and cats is “much more acute than that of humans, making them more vulnerable to intense and unpredictable auditory stimuli” such as firecrackers, which generate fear, stress and disorientation that can lead to “lasting phobias” or to injuries requiring urgent veterinary care, noted ethologist Rosana Álvarez of Grupo Santévet.

She recommends watching for the following signs of suffering:

• Behavioral: constant restlessness, uncontrollable behavior, frantic movements, attempts to escape
• Physiological: tremors, excessive salivation, tachycardia, dilated pupils

Prompt recognition of these signs can help prevent severe distress or injury in animals exposed to New Year’s pyrotechnics.