Pet lovers in the UK today appealed to the government to ban fireworks on all except four days of the year which includes Diwali, in a bid to save pets from the trauma of loud noises.
More than 100,000 people have backed an e-petition which calls for the public's use of fireworks to be restricted to traditional UK celebration dates only - Diwali, Chinese New Year, Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night) and New Year's Eve.
The petition, supported by animal charity Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), want the Fireworks Act 2003 and Firework Regulations 2004 to be reformed so that private displays can only take place on these occasions to save their pets from the trauma of loud noises.
RSPCA's Campaign Manager Ari Winfield said, "The RSPCA believes the Fireworks Act 2003 and the Fireworks Regulations 2004 don't go far enough. We want to see the government take advantage of this by strengthening the existing acts and restricting the use of fireworks to traditional dates of the year like Bonfire Night".
The charity says it has received almost 1,500 calls from worried owners in the past five years reporting how unnerved their dogs had become.
It is also calling for the maximum permitted noise level of fireworks for public sale to be reduced from 120 decibels.
Under current UK rules, fireworks are restricted only between 11 PM and 7 AM on any day. There are exceptions in place for Bonfire Night, when the cut-off time is midnight, and New Year's Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut-off is 1 AM.
