Written by PETA
Fireworks are being blamed for the recent deaths of 5,000 birds in Arkansas. The professional-grade explosives scared red-winged blackbirds and European starlings out of their nests and sent them into panicked flight. The night-blind birds crashed into houses, signs, and other obstacles, causing blunt-force trauma and death.
As this case shows, fireworks displays are disastrous for animals. Besides being frightening, fireworks produce plumes of smoke that are harmful to animals' respiratory systems and pollute standing water. The California Coastal Commission banned the city of Gualala's fireworks display after a 2006 show caused nesting seabirds to flee their nests and abandon their chicks. Fireworks are also being blamed for the deaths of about 50 birds found dead on a street in Sweden earlier this year. Animal shelters also report an increase in the number of lost animal companions following fireworks displays. Many animals go missing because they panic and jump over fences or break chains; some even jump through plate-glass windows in order to get away from the terrifying sounds.
You can help birds and other animals by asking officials in your town to ban fireworks and switch to laser light shows, which provide all the awe of fireworks displays but are more affordable and kinder to animals and the environment.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
The first thing I did after reading this artical was burst out lauging, so hard I almost fell out of my chair... Anyhow have you not heard the news reports of the hundreds of birds/fish who have fallen out of the sky/floated to the surface for apparently no reason? I'd say whatever caused that caused this. If all of this is recent then what about all the other Fourth of July's? I can tell you that I'm sure the birds are used to it by now living next to large cities such as those named above.
and there is no proof that the fireworks did not cause these birds deaths.
yes the fireworks caused these birds deaths and suffering, this is not an uncommon occurance. this isn't the first time this has happened. the fireworks should go.
I don't think fireworks caused these deaths. I think it could be secret government testing, HAARP, and/or chemtrails. See the film, What In The World Are They Spraying? Once you see that film, you will never look at the sky the same again.
Not only are fireworks dangerous to birds, they are harrassment: if you're trying to sleep in the middle of night, no matter your species, you should be legally obliged to have peace... noise disturbance is a crime & fireworks are harrassment. They scare dogs frequently, they probably scare some children; we can see the stupid culture-loving backlash, but indeed, fireworks are too dangerous to public wellbeing to be of any good.
This isn't PETA making anything up. Read the USA TODAY article linked in the blog. It says: "Someone shot off 10 to 12 professional-type fireworks near the roost," she says. Wayne Ballew, Beebe's chief of police, lives nearby. He reported that they "shook the windows on his house"
I totally agree with 'Grr'. I think Peta do some AMAZING work, but sometimes, you take it way too far and it makes you lack credibility. The evidence gathered so far has not been conclusive and mass deaths happen all across the globe, ALL THE TIME. It could just be an unfortunate coincidence.
OK, this is one of those semi-fanatical articles that destroy PETA's credibility. Being a vegetarian, I try to support your cause as much as I can, but it is stuff like this that makes me ashamed to ask people to visit your website.
There is no proof that these deaths have anything to do with fireworks - it could be a combination of factors, or it could be indeed the result of US poisonous gas tests. You can't indiscriminately make such claims without any proof, because it makes you sound like lunatic scaremongers.
I am also quite certain that airplanes cause a lot more bird deaths and stress than fireworks. Let's call for banning airplanes as well then!
Heather, you "bet a bunch flee their nests or fly into obstacles" But you have no evidence that they do. You don't ban things because someone "thinks" it causes something negative to happen. You need empirical evidence that fireworks cause massive animal deaths before you ban something and so far there isn't any evidence that fireworks have caused these bird kills. The fact that we haven't seen these massive kills on July fourth is good evidence that it's something other than fireworks.
I agree with Tom, before something is banned lets find out exactly what is going on. Not only did birds fall from the sky, fish also died in Arkansas. Then there are the birds in Kentucky, Louisiana and Sweden. Then the fish in Chesapeake bay, how are all these incidents linked. Also in Kentucky a man shot what was thought to be the mythical Chupacabra, which instead was a hairless raccoon. It is claimed that this is becoming more common in raccoons,Why? Are we not sure that we are not causing these problems with toxic waste and chemical pesticides, these problems should be evident with the rise in cancer cases over the last 2 decades.
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