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Fireworks
hARM and kill people |
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People
get killed manufacuring fireworks: The
mortality rate of gunpowder explosion burns in factory accidents is high |
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Child labour is still
used in the manufacture of fireworks (India and China) |
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Nearly
half of all the fireworks produced in China fail to meet
basic quality and safety standards (China Labour
Bulletin) |
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Irresponsible and
criminal use of fireworks poses a danger to both the
people using them and innocent members of the public |
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Firecrackers (25%), rockets (21%), and sparklers (11%)
accounted for most of the injuries seen in emergency
departments during 2001 (Greene 2002) |
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Children
are 11 times more likely to be injured by fireworks
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People
who stand too close to the fireworks run a high risk of
being harmed |
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Fireworks
explosions can cause tinnitus and even deafness |
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Epileptics
can experience siezures |
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People who
suffer from asthma experience discomfort |
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Bottle
rockets are the single greatest cause of eye injuries
requiring hospitalization |
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Bottle
rockets are particularly dangerous because their
flight path is erratic, their fuses are non-standard and
their explosive power is enough to turn a 'launch site'
bottle or can into shrapnel |
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Sparklers can ignite clothing and hair.
Three sparklers burning together create the heat of a
blow torch. |
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Fireworks
hARM and kill ANIMALS |
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Fireworks have been
proven to be detrimental to companion animals and
wildlife |
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Using fireworks near
animals is both cruel and inhumane as explosive
fireworks cause animals immense fear and stress |
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Animals
who are too close to firework explosions often suffer
significant burns and eye damage |
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Dogs often
run and catch thrown fireworks in their mouths believing
them to be toys |
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The ears of most animals
are considerably more sensitive than the human ear and
fireworks can permanently affect their acute sense of
hearing |
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Many animals are
terrified of these noises and break free or jump fences
to try and escape the terror |
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Animals
fleeing from fireworks often get lost or killed.
Dogs are prone to being hit by cars and birds are
prone to breaking their necks by flying into buildings |
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A bull trying to escape
his pen in response to a fireworks display died after
becoming impaled on the fence |
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Dogs are brought to
shelters with paws bloody from running or torn skin from
tearing through a backyard wooden fence or, worse,
crippled from being hit by a car |
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Most birds fly away in
fright and nesting mothers endanger the well-being of
nestlings when they sometimes cannot find their own nest
upon return |
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Laying hens show
extremely low egg production the day after fireworks and
the eggs are often malformed (Dr. Ian Duncan, an
ethologist at the University of Guelph, Ontario) |
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Waterfowl become
entangled in remnants of fireworks that land in
waterways and ponds |
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Fish ingest the debris
and die, sometimes even causing the deaths of scavenging
animals that eat them |
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After fireworks, wildlife
rehabilitators experience an increase in orphaned birds,
squirrels, and other small mammals. |
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Even butterflies are at
direct risk of becoming disoriented, injured, and
killed. |
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The combined responses to
fireworks of panic and disorientation can result in
birds' flying into a building or too far out to sea.
(Dr. David Noakes, a zoologist at the University of
Guelph, Ontario) |
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Sound from loud gunshots
on snow geese found that the birds reduced their feeding
time |
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In 1996, research
demonstrated that hatchling and juvenile black ducks
grew slower and had less body weight than black ducks
living in low-noise areas |
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Zoo staff
often express particular concerns for their animals'
safety. |
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Fireworks
DAMAGE AND
DESTROY PROPERTY |
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Fireworks have set
fire to buildings |
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Fireworks pose a
great threat to homes with thatch roofing |
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Fireworks
DAMAGE AND
DESTROY THE ENVIRONMENT |
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Fireworks have
started grass and forest fires |
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Even when
green, Chromolaena oderata (Triffid Weed), an outlawed
invader plant, burns readily and facilitates fires |
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The
explosion of fireworks releases poisonous chemicals and
particle-laden smoke, contaminating our natural
environment |
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Fireworks produce light
pollution, noise pollution, air pollution, debris and
litter |
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Fireworks
damage the Ozone
layer |