With bonfire night and Halloween now out the way for another year, the debate on whether fireworks should be banned being sold to members of the public (or banned full stop) continues to be had - as more and more authorities get on board across Wales to take action to protect animals from the negative impacts.
The RSPCA’s ‘Kind Sparks’ campaign encourages everyone to make a small change to reduce the impact of fireworks on pets, livestock and wildlife - and ensure fireworks can be enjoyed more responsibly.
Measures local authorities can introduce include publicising displays in advance so that pet owners can be prepared, and encouraging local suppliers to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public displays.
RSPCA Cymru’s motion also encourages local authorities to write to the UK Government - who are responsible for the relevant legislation - to encourage them to limit the maximum noise level of purchasable fireworks.
But is that really enough?
More and more displays seem to fill the calendar, meaning that pet owners can never rest easy from their beloved animals being spooked at any point during the year, especially with an inordinate amount of individual imbeciles randomly letting them off too!
We know many animals struggle with fireworks phobia, but our environment is being put at risk too.
On Halloween night, firefighters from Milford Haven were called to an incident near Lindsway Bay in St Ishmaels, tasked to respond to a grass fire across 180 metres of cliff face.
After being called out shortly after 10pm, the crew didn’t leave the scene until just before 2am!
The blaze was caused by fireworks that had been set off along a section of the Coast Path.
Coastal cliffs are rich in biodiversity, and images of the scene the following morning sadly showed the damage these mindless idiots had caused to the landscape.
New analysis in the UK has also revealed the astonishing increase in pollution around the 5th of November.
It is illegal to set off fireworks in a public place - and with the chaos caused by teenagers in the past few days, in areas such as Nottingham where fireworks were shot at people in buildings and aimed towards emergency service workers; and in Edinburgh where six people were charged under the ‘Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles Act’ during similar disorder, maybe its time Local Authorities and the police do take this matter more seriously, before we have another Guy Fawkes on our hands!