Start the year with a bang with screaming kitchen maids, pull strings, firecrackers and ground flowers. That’s fun for pyro enthusiasts, but it’s terrible for animals. So if you live together with a lot of dogs and cats, in an animal shelter for example, it needs preparation. “As humans, we may know what’s going on, but for them it’s like the world is ending.”
The fireworks-free zone at the Bossche Oosterplas is like a gift from heaven for Dierentehuis Den Bosch. It means that bang fanatics in the surrounding area are not allowed to set off fireworks and enforcement will also drive around to check. “Thank you for not banging on the animals,” reads the yellow placard. “That’s just kind,” says employee Laura Quist. “Maybe a little passive-aggressive, but we don’t mean it that way.”
Animal New Year step-by-step plan
But if there are still some bangs, they have a step-by-step plan ready. For example, they turn on the radio in the quarters at high volume just before midnight. “Channel doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a program that doesn’t also broadcast fireworks sounds around midnight. Then they have a kind of constant background noise that neutralizes the bangs for them.”
Around three in the morning the radio goes off again and it is time for Quist to assess the damage. “If the animals haven’t left their pen since noon, that means they let everything run in their pen. So unfortunately we can’t do much in terms of preparation: it’s mainly cleaning up the damage.”
Love is also letting go
Although they will never be able to completely remove the suffering. “During the day it often starts with bangs, so the animals don’t really want to leave the pen anymore. We just let them sit in their bubble for a bit. If they are really scared and shocked, not all of them need hugs or affection .”
Home tips
If you don’t live in a firework-free zone yourself and still want to save your pet some stress, caretaker Wendy Togt has a number of tips. “You can ask your neighbors if they might be considerate of your dog or cat, or turn on the radio at home. It won’t work miracles, but maybe it will calm them down a bit.”
But the most important thing is really to just stay as close to them as possible, if your pet likes that. Give them some love, keep an eye on them. Or give them space, if your animal prefers that.
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