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Woman Highlights The Extreme Stress Fireworks Can Cause Dogs With Shocking Post

Ciara Sheppard

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Woman Highlights The Extreme Stress Fireworks Can Cause Dogs With Shocking Post

Featured Image Credit: Emma Hilton Everett

We all know that fireworks can be distressing for some dogs, but one woman's post has just highlighted how bad it can get.

Emma Hilton Everett, 33, from Dunstable, Bedfordshire is urging people to think against setting off fireworks randomly in the year after a chance display left her frightened dog in bits.

The teaching assistant had been out for a family reunion but was heading back to drop her two children off at a sleepover when she heard fireworks.

Knowing her five-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Neekah, was terrified of the loud explosions, she rushed home to her aid. To make matters worse, being July, Emma had left the windows ajar, meaning the bangs would have been much louder than usual.

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Credit: Emma Hilton Everett
Credit: Emma Hilton Everett

Emma came home to find blood in the bath where her pet had scratched and dug at the floor in frustration along with urine where Neekah had become incontinent with fright.

She told Pretty52: "When we got home, Neekah was panting, pacing and limping so we knew she was affected (being July we had left windows ajar) pretty badly.

"My son went upstairs and called us to say there was blood in the bath. We went upstairs and found the bath with blood all over it and found she had urinated in places also."

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Credit: Emma Hilton Everett
Credit: Emma Hilton Everett

The mum-of-three managed to take a look at her scared dog's paw, which appeared to have been gnawed at in desperation.

Posting a photo of the blood-smeared bath on Facebook, Emma warned: "This is the consequence of setting off random fireworks so we cannot control her environment. Went out to enjoy a family reunion and come back to blood stained bath and wee everywhere. We weren't even in the same town so couldn't rush home. Just awful."

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In the post - that has since been shared over 100 times - Emma urged: "Please think twice about fireworks," adding: "One day the stress will be too much for her and I'll come home to a dead dog from a heart attack."

Emma explains that on and around Guy Fawkes Night in November and New Year's Eve in December, the family takes measure to help Neekah, such as giving her medication from the vets, having her wear a thunder jacket and creating a space under the stairs with music to dull out the bangs.

Credit: Emma Hilton Everett
Credit: Emma Hilton Everett
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However they cannot predict when people will choose to set them off randomly throughout the year. "When we don't expect it, this is what can happen," she tells Pretty52. "One day we will come home to a dead dog.

"I just wish people would think twice and save it for fireworks night. Other animals struggle too and people with PTSD."

She adds: "There are certain times of the year people can prepare for these events, random ones cause great upset and distress to many people."

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It's thought 40 per cent of dogs are scared of fireworks. Most dogs can hear four times the distance of a human and can pick up much higher pitched sounds at a frequency range of 67-45,000 Hz, so it's no wonder why they find fireworks so scary.

If you, too, have a dog who is is dealing with fireworks-based anxiety, the Kennel Club offer some useful tips such as getting your dog to become acclimatised to bangs in the lead up to Fireworks Night, making sure they have lots of water, feeding them beforehand, and creating a safe den for them to retreat to.

One town in Italy has even opted to switch to silent fireworks for the welfare of its animals. Collecchio, in northern Italy's Parma province, has made the change to using the silent fireworks, which still offer amazing displays and light shows just without the bang at the end.

Maybe more town's should take note...

Topics: Life News, Life, Dogs

Ciara Sheppard
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