TTSPCA Welcomes Fireworks Legislation Review, Calls For Quieter Alternatives
Ahead of the festive season, an animal-welfare group is welcoming the review of fireworks legislation and calling for safer, quieter alternatives, as loud explosions continue to put animals at risk.
With Christmas, New Year’s, and Carnival approaching—periods that often involve fireworks and loud music—the Trinidad and Tobago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TTSPCA) is urging citizens to keep animals in mind.
TTSPCA Chairman Sita Kuruvilla warned that for dogs and cats, the noise from fireworks is magnified several times, causing extreme fear.
« They will often completely lose their senses, and they’ll just start running or trying to escape from the loud noise. So that is why we see them very distressed, running through the streets, or trying to escape from even their homes, pushing through barbed wire or fencing, and becoming injured, or running in front of cars and so on. »
Beyond fireworks, the organisation has also been affected by loud music from Carnival fetes at the nearby Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Ms. Kuruvilla recalled one instance that resulted in the death of a canine resident.
“He was an older dog, he was here from a cruelty case and he was living out his life here, and after one of the big fetes there, we found him in the morning and he sort of passed away, well he was having seizures and everything, and we think it was triggered by the loud noises.”
The TTSPCA says it welcomes government efforts to revisit fireworks legislation and continues to monitor any updates to the country’s noise-pollution laws.
