2023-12-28 17:05:00
In Walloon Brabant, most municipalities restrict the use of fireworks, one of the main causes of injuries at New Year’s. But firecrackers are not only a threat to humans. December 31 can be an ordeal for animals, whether pets, farm or wild.
Without a collar prepares for the New Year 2024 and invites not to use fireworks or alternatives with “reduced noise”. ©DR
There are multiple impacts of fireworks on animals: “For wildlife, we can see it with birds, disturbed by the shots. Alerted, they fly away and become exhausted,” informs Sébastien de Jonge, director of the ASBL Sans Collier, a shelter for dogs and cats in Perwez.
Regarding pets, fireworks cause them to run away: “It is often said that people just need to prepare themselves. But the problem is that we only shoot fireworks on December 31 at midnight. Sometimes hours and days before or following, and we can’t contain the animals for several days.” And this has a real impact: despite the virtual ban on fireworks in Brabant, Sans Collier notices an influx of lost animals around January 1st. “We get 10-15 stray animals coming back on these days, compared to the usual 2-3. But in any case, we hope that with the prevention of the municipalities, we will have fewer this year”.
Some advice from the shelter
Animal mortality during this period would also be underestimated, because some animals can suffer cardiac arrest. This is all the more true for dogs which are present in one in two households in Belgium, Sébastien de Jonge reminds us. Sans Collier is therefore preparing for the New Year. “We reinforce surveillance on the 31st and, to distract the animals’ attention, we give them something to chew on. The goal is that they don’t hear the noise”. Advice that the director of Sans Collier also addresses to individuals by adding to increase the background sound, like that of the television for example.
2023, a complicated year for shelters
In general, the working conditions of shelters have been particularly difficult in 2023: “Every year we have periods of saturation, sometimes of a few days, weeks or even months but here it has been all year round”. This is linked to post-covid abandonments and the various crises (energy, indexation) that owners are going through: “Shelters are the mirror of society”. To this can be added the various seizures such as one in Eghezée (Sans collar recovered 60 of the 130 animals), and recently at the Countess of Monceau, with 34 dogs taken back. Thus Without Collar counts 300 cats and dogs combined, compared to 200 usually: “It’s extremely complicated”.
Some 150 to 200 dogs, donkeys and horses seized from Countess Diana du Monceau in Chastre
But Sébastien de Jonge reassures “adoptions are resuming, we remain optimistic” even if we must not forget that a pet is not an object and requires care and attention. And as the holidays approach, Sébastien would like to “thank the people who take care of animals” because we must not forget that of the two million pets in Belgium, the “large part of the owners treat them correctly so to 2024 take care of the animals, we will be there for those who have no one”.
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