Animal welfare charity, Dogs Trust, has said it is ‘disappointed’ by Glasgow City Council’s decision to reject a ‘much needed’ Firework Control Zone (FCZ) around the rehoming centre this year.
Dogs Trust Glasgow says it is appealing a decision not to have a FCZ located around its rehoming centre in the Broomhouse area of the city.
This year marks the first time a FCZ is being enforced in Glasgow, with a pilot zone being set up in the Pollokshields area, meaning the use of fireworks will be illegal for a 10-day period.
Polloksheilds was chosen as the first place to try out the new ban due to the area having suffered the most serious firework-related antisocial behaviour in previous years, the council says.
However, bosses at Dogs Trust Glasgow say their application to have a zone approved by its rehoming centre was wrongfully rejected as it met the criteria.
Staff say they witness the anxiety and distress caused to dogs by fireworks every year. The rehoming centre has also been subject to anti-social behaviour which has seen fireworks aimed at the centre so that they explode directly above the kennels housing the dogs in its care.
Laura Foster, Associate Director of Rehoming at Dogs Trust, says: “Fireworks season is a really difficult time for dogs in our care, with many of them traumatised by the noise from fireworks. Our Glasgow rehoming centre is particularly affected as it is located in a residential area, where private displays are frequent and unpredictable.
“Sadly, our centre has also had problems with the anti-social use of fireworks where people have deliberately set off fireworks next to the centre, purposefully aiming them to explode above the dogs’ kennels. This sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable and causes our dogs a great deal of distress.”
Dogs Trust has now appealed the decision on the grounds that the Scottish Government's guidance on implementing Firework Control Zones clearly states that the impact of unpredictable fireworks on animals is grounds for establishing a zone.
Glasgow City Council has since confirmed that while the application will be reviewed, there is now not enough time to review and implement a zone by Bonfire Night 2024.
READ MORE:
- Fireworks to be banned for 10 days in November in part of Glasgow
- Royal Life Saving Society launches baby bath safety campaign
Ms Foster added: “We don’t understand the reason behind the initial refusal of our application; Scottish Government's guidance on implementing Firework Control Zones clearly states that the impact of unpredictable fireworks on animals is grounds for establishing a zone. That, combined with the anti-social incidents we have experienced, provides reason enough for a successful application.
“The establishment of a Firework Control Zone would have made a huge difference to the dogs in our care, so it’s incredibly disappointing that our initial application was unsuccessful, and now there is not enough time for the panel to review our appeal ahead of the impending firework season.
“We urge Glasgow City Council to review our appeal as soon as possible, and hope that those reviewing our application will seek advice and guidance from animal welfare professionals to ensure that the impact of fireworks on our dogs is considered before making a final decision.”
A council spokeswoman said: “Applications for firework control zones were considered by the multi-agency panel. Decisions were based on data held by the council, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue about complaints / antisocial behaviour involving fireworks in previous years. Where applications were rejected, applicants had a right of appeal.
“We would remind residents that they can feed into the ongoing consultation into the possible creation of a citywide Firework Control Zone next year.
“We are working with our partners in the emergency services to address the community safety concerns that arise around Bonfire Night.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel