Proposed fireworks ban sparks debate on animal distress

Lynley Tulloch

After public consultation, the Auckland Council’s Governing Body has asked Government to ban the private use and sale of fireworks. Of 8000 public submissions, almost 90 per cent were in support of a ban. Many submissions held concerns for the safety of animals.

I couldn’t be happier. Fireworks cause my normally adorable golden retriever to turn into a shaking pool of jelly. He also hates thunderstorms and shot guns. The sudden loud and unpredictable noise of these occurrences make him feel genuine terror.

So I am sure my dog will be very happy if the fireworks are banned. It will be one less bang to worry about in a world that can sometimes feel terrifying when you have four paws and acute hearing.

Banning fireworks also means that they do not end up in the hands of psychopaths who use them to torment animals. In November 2017 a duck was killed after the fireworks stuffed in his beak were set alight.

But not everyone is happy. Damien Grant, fireworks importer and enthusiast, has sparked debate (pun intended) over his less than popular opinion that fireworks are an unqualified good. He has asked us to stop the outrage.

Of course he has. Grant has a business to run after all. What are a few yelping dogs when you are trying to get bang for your buck through selling pyrotechnics?

In June 2018 Grant was in the news for a commercial firework display at his son’s fifth birthday. He received threats and complaints from his rural neighbors worried about their horses.

Grant was adamant that he would not accept this.

He also made a pertinent point that we are hypocritical crying about a few traumatized pets when human society is built on the industrial creation and destruction of animals. Fish have their mouths ripped out by hooks; hunters are mere psychopaths who enjoy killing pigs and deer; and bobby calves get killed by the millions. It’s not wrong, he said. And if you don’t like it then cry into your soy milk and bread, because that is all you are getting for supper. You will live a cold and hungry existence.

So says Grant.

I don’t happen to participate in any animal flesh and secretions for my supper, but I live quite merrily on a varied plant-based diet and I don’t get cold. And I also don’t think we should scare animals half to death for the pleasure of entertainment. But then, rodeo has not been banned yet, so I guess a precedent has been set.

Grant’s theories hold about as much water as a colander. But he is right on one thing. Society is full of hypocrites if we think it is OK to munch on the honey-glazed leg of a traumatized pig while worrying about our pet’s happiness.

But then, I think honey -glazed legs should never have been removed from the pig in the first place. And the honey should have remained in the beehive to feed the bees over winter. At least I am consistent in my moral approach to animals.

And to give him his due, so is Grant. Grant consistently does not care one jot about animals. He believes fishing and hunting is ‘gratuitous animal cruelty’, yet he accepts this as part of life.

In the end it comes down to exploring your values toward animals honestly. Grant simply does not care. Of the fact that fireworks upset dogs he simply says, so what?

Grant recently told One News that he should not sacrifice his quality of life for a dog. ‘We have engineered the sycophantic emotionally dependent parasite for us to love’, says Grant. Yes, he really did call a dog a parasite.

Grant seems to hold animals in complete contempt, and for that reason he is not worth listening to.

Fireworks need to be banned. Yes, Grant may call them a ‘transient burst of beauty’, and children and adults alike enjoy them. But that is simply not enough to justify the trauma they cause animals.

We don’t need to create and watch these ‘bursts of beauty’ when nature provides plenty for free. A galloping horse is more beautiful, especially when she is running for joy and not fear.

I suggest Grant watch a sunset. It’s free, transient, beautiful and doesn’t hurt animals.

ends

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