It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I am delighted that the hon. Member for Clwyd South (Susan Elan Jones) has brought this debate to us today. I feel
that I am speaking as an advocate on behalf of the approximately 8.5 million dogs in the United Kingdom and—not to forget them—the 8 million cats. I understand that there is some contention between the two with regard to their ability to hear. In preparing for the debate, I understood that the dog has 18 muscles in its ear, whereas the cat has 30, so I think the cat wins, in terms of its ability to hear. We should give consideration to that when setting the legislation.
I imagine that last night, Mr Walker, you were lying in bed, soundly asleep—deep in slumber. Imagine that you were disturbed from that sleep by a noise somewhere in your house. You are awake, your heartbeat is slightly elevated and you start to breathe slightly more quietly because you are troubled by that noise. Now imagine you suddenly hear a glass smashing in the kitchen. All of a sudden you become disoriented. You feel slightly panicked. Has somebody broken into your house? You are very concerned. Now imagine, on top of that, you suddenly smell a gas that you are not familiar with. Imagine the sort of state you would be in at that point. I imagine you would be very anxious. That is what we put our cats and dogs through every time they are subjected to fireworks, because they do not have the benefit of knowing, when the firework displays suddenly appear in the Asda and other shops, that they are likely soon to hear many more loud bangs. They do not have any warning, or understanding, of Diwali or new year’s eve, so it comes as a complete surprise to Fido when he is enjoying his bone of an evening and all of a sudden there are crashes and bangs all over the place.
At what sort of level is the noise? The figure of 120 dB has been mentioned. I do not know, Mr Walker, if you know what 120 dB is, but it is approximately the noise level of a chainsaw. You might say, “Hang on a sec, a chainsaw would annoy me, if it went on for a few minutes, but I would probably be okay with intermittent bursts of chainsaw”, and you may well be, but you do not have the hearing of a dog or a cat, which is four times as perceptive as that of a human. They feel the noise with greater force than we do. Imagine there are fireworks in the distance. They are not too troubling for us, but obviously a dog or cat, with its enhanced hearing, will be troubled by firework noise from further afield. As a nation of animal lovers, it is imperative that we consider the hearing not just of the humans inhabiting this great island, but of our dear beloved pets.
I met a Chihuahua called Flo because, in the run-up to bonfire night, I wanted to put a leaflet through doors in my constituency to alert people to be considerate to pet owners. I am advocating on behalf of not just millions of dogs, but specifically Flo, who must weigh about 2 lb, bless her. She is paralysed with fear every new year’s eve and bonfire night, and millions of her fellow dogs and cats across the country feel the same.
I do not ask for a change in the law, but I suggest that the millions of pounds that we hear are made from the sale of fireworks could be targeted, through social media or other appropriate media—I understand, for example, that on Facebook, pet owners can be specifically targeted—to ensure that people are aware of the things they can do to placate and prepare their animals for the onslaught of bonfire night, or bonfire fortnight and the weeks it goes on for, and to educate the general public to be slightly more considerate not just of their neighbours, but of pets as well.
5.53 pm