A Greater Manchester dog rescue centre has described a firework display that was previously hosted as a silent event as ‘terrorising’ their animals with over twenty minutes of ‘constant noise, enormous bangs and whizzes’.
The ‘Firework Spooky Spectacular Display’ on October 30 was organised by Illuminated Ltd and hosted at the City Airport in Barton, one kilometre from the rescue centre.
Dogs4Rescue founder Emma Billington released a statement on the shelter’s twitter page the following day on October 31, explaining that they had previously established a good relationship with the event organisers after a ‘horrendous experience in 2015’.
From 2016, after a meeting between all parties, they ran a silent display annually instead, which Dogs4Rescue endorsed, praising them for their forward-thinking.
Read more: Take part in our survey to decide if fireworks should be banned from public sale
A testimony from the was even used on their website for their silent firework events, and it appeared that all parties had reached a compromise that benefitted all.
However, in the released statement Emma explained that despite their initial belief the display would go ahead as per the most recent arrangement, plans appeared to change at the last minute.
She said: “This year we received the notification that the event would go ahead which contained an assurance they would make a greater use of ‘low-level fireworks’ to reduce the noise footprint.
“To our horror last night we discovered that they had in fact reverted back to a regular firework display with constant noise, enormous bangs and whizzes that sounded like we were in a warzone.
“It is unfathomable to us, after running a successful silent event, that the production company and venue would choose to revert back to traditional fireworks. We can only imagine it is profit over compassion.
“We were not given any opportunity to help fund the more expensive silent fireworks were it the case profit margins are unworkable after lockdown.”
On Illuminated Ltd events website page in their Frequently Asked Question section, the organisers recommend that no dogs attend the event, stating: “Fireworks and crowds can be a frightening experience for many dogs.”
The firework display itself took place at 7:45pm, and Emma claimed that with the exception of one dog who is hard of hearing, the 40 residents at the kennel-free shelter were thrown into a panic when the fireworks began.
Read more: Donate dog food to your local shelter this Bonfire Night instead of buying fireworks
“We have dogs here who have been shot, dogs who have been run over, dogs who have epilepsy, dogs who are broken souls and have come to us for rehabilitation, dogs who will redirect their reactivity when put under extreme stress.
“Our rescue is their safe place.”
Emma said they were able to coax some dogs out of their fearful states using treats after the display ended but many have seen lasting effects including refusing to eat, and exhibiting traumatised behaviour.
She said: “Even worse is that this intense display, so close to our rescue in advance of Bonfire Night, has now made all of the dogs all hyper-sensitive to noise prior to next weekend.”
The shelter's tweet has since garnered over 1,000 likes and 500 retweets, with users flooding the comments to support them.
Dogs4Rescue have previously called for fireworks to be banned , after revealing that one of their dogs tragically died after the stress of a firework display triggered a fatal heart attack.
One user said: “These beautiful dogs and animals are Salfordians, they have become a part of the wonderful things that come from Salford.
“They deserve compassion, love and respect. The torture that they went through last night it not okay, leaders of Salford need to protect them.”
Another commented: “Heart-breaking, senseless. A complete lack of empathy for creatures who are trying to recover from trauma.
“Sending the dogs love and healing today. Damn fireworks.”
While a third added: “In case anyone was wondering how loud it was, I live two miles away in Eccles and it was loud enough here that my two cats hid under the bed and didn't come out until half hour after it had finished they were so scared. @Dogs4Rescue is around half a mile from the airport.”
A statement on City Airport's Facebook page posted on Saturday, addressing concerns raised read: Following our busy annual Fireworks event this evening which has been running a number of years, organised by Illuminated, we are aware of some concerns regarding dogs welfare and apologise for any disturbance caused.
"As in previous years the organiser made contact with the Dogs Rescue Organisation well in advance of the event and previous measures introduced to minimise the distance noise travels such as locating the display towards the eastern side of the site and limiting the maximum heights of the designed fireworks were in place this evening.
"All feedback will however be passed to the organiser for their continued review and careful consideration for future similar events.
"Feedback may be provided directly to the organiser by emailing hello@illuminated.com"
The organisers of the event have been contacted for comment.
