“Fireworks are extremely stressful and frightening for lots of animals.”
Animals and staff were left terrified this weekend after fireworks were fired near an animal hospital in London.
A video captured by workers in the Harmsworth Animal Hospital shows a selection of fireworks being fired along the street from behind makeshift barricades.
According to the RSPCA, some staff were forced to hide inside the hospital so as not to be seen by the culprits. The hospital has also been forced to ask clients to attend the client during the daytime to avoid the fireworks.
A spokesperson for the hospital said that the animals inside have been left “terrified” by the anti-social behaviour.
On Friday a gang were firing fireworks and creating makeshift barricades out of bins just outside RSPCA Harmsworth Animal Hospital, leaving our staff rattled and the sick and needy animals inside terrified!
Read more on this #BangOutOfOrder story: https://t.co/TMV3s3ZoPs pic.twitter.com/UVcAoQwJUp— RSPCA (England & Wales) (@RSPCA_official) November 9, 2020
“Fireworks have been going off in this area during the week upsetting the dogs and animals in the hospital, and staff also reported sparks visible in the branches of the trees close to the hospital,” they said.
“We had one particularly horrible incident where fireworks were launched at a police car right outside the hospital.
“Fireworks are extremely stressful and frightening for lots of animals. But they can also cause very serious injury and even death to some.”
Staff had to take extra steps to keep some of their residents calm during the fireworks riot outside. One of their patients, a Rottweiler named Rose, had to be moved upstairs to a quieter room so she could calm down.
In 2019, the RSPCA launched their Bang Out Of Order campaign in a bid to stop the unnecessary use of fireworks and bangers, which will inevitably cause distress to animals during the October and November months.
Over the last four years, the charity has received 1,543 calls about fireworks alone.
