Carla Morrison Warns Fireworks Aren’t a ‘Blast’ for Animals in New PETA Campaign

For Immediate Release:
June 28, 2023

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Ahead of Independence Day, Grammy nominee Carla Morrison is blowing up the airwaves in a new radio PSA for PETA, warning everyone not to set off fireworks and to keep their animals safe during fireworks displays.

“Dogs and cats don’t know that fireworks aren’t actual ‘bombs bursting in air,’ and they can be so frightened by them that they run away, jumping fences and even breaking through windows,” says Morrison, who stars in the campaign with her dogs, Chawiwi and Tino. “Please help protect them … by not setting off fireworks of your own, and keep your animals safe during fireworks shows, closing the windows and blinds and playing their favorite music to help soothe them.”

PETA points out that fireworks displays frequently result in intake spikes at animal shelters, which exceed their capacity and further strain community resources. Companion animals who arrive at shelters at these times often have bloody paws and broken bones and might never be reunited with their families. Others, doomed to an even worse fate, are hit by cars or strangled after their collars become caught on fences. Wildlife is affected, too: In Arkansas, 5,000 birds died one New Year’s Eve after a fireworks show caused them to take flight and slam into objects such as houses and cars because most of them couldn’t see well in the dark.

Morrison is part of a long list of celebrities—including Kate del Castillo, Danny Trejo, Edward James Olmos, Emilio Rivera, Jesse & Joy, Paulina Rubio, and George Lopez—who have teamed up with PETA to promote kindness toward animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.