Advice issued to pet owners ahead of bonfire night

Advice has been issued to pet owners ahead of Bonfire Night.

While the fifth of November's festivities might be a bit of fun to many of us, it can be anything but that for pets.

Caroline Yon, Head of Animal Welfare at the Oaktree Animal Charity said: “At one end of the scale you might have animals that just simply want to hide, so they'll look for a quiet, dark place, either under a bed or behind a chair to get away.

"At the other end of the scale, you'll have a completely panicked animal that will just do everything within its power without reason to get away. In a bid to escape, they can try to go through windows, doors. They can destroy items in the house.

"And of course, if they get out of the house, there's always the risk that they could be run over or hurt."

The charity cares for hundreds of animals each year. This autumn, they're urging animal lovers to consider swapping fireworks for donations to charitable causes.

Advice has been issued to pet owners ahead of Bonfire Night. Credit: PA

Mike Collins, training co-ordinator, said: “There's a lot of things you can do with fireworks, in particular to help dogs feel more comfortable.

"One of the most efficient ways is giving them a safe space somewhere. They feel really comfortable somewhere that's covered in some way that smells of an essential in their toys.

"Having your TV on a bit louder, if it's okay, the TV is really good. Sometimes when you've got a dog who is sensitive to fireworks and is also sensitive to other noises as well in the long run, you can actually desensitise them to noises.

"But because it's quite close to Bonfire Night right now, it's going to take a lot of effort to do that in terms of it won't be possible in the short time you've got.

“One of the things that we see every single year, there are stories about horses, dogs, cats, all suffering from heart attacks.

"Some die and we know it can be avoided by actually muting the noise of the fireworks, which is the standard across Australia. You have to get silent fireworks."

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