Enough

Owners are urged to act to help bring an end to fireworks’ devastation

- ELEANOR JONES

A RALLYING call has gone out to horse owners to help bring an end to the misery caused by fireworks.

As Britain prepares to welcome a new year tonight (31 December), there is no doubt fireworks will be let off. There is also little doubt that the result, once again, will be horses, animals, and people terrified, injured, or worse.

But change is coming about, Julie Doorne of the FAB firework abatement campaign believes.

A Government petition will be debated in parliament next year; this will be the fifth time one of her group’s petitions has been debated, having been signed by more than 100,000 people.

The most recent, calling for the sale of fireworks to be limited to organizers of licensed displays, has almost 280,000 signatures.

“There’s obviously a problem,” Julie said. “People might think nothing happens from signing the petitions but it does. The Scottish Government has made changes, the Office for Product Safety and Standards has started a safety campaign and is collecting data. That’s down to the campaign; they weren’t doing it before.”