Fireworks Next to an Animal Shelter?! PETA Urges St. John to Ditch the Deafening Display for Dazzling Drones

For Immediate Release:
July 11, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

After learning that last week’s St. John Freedom Fest celebration included fireworks shot off at a park right next to the town’s animal shelter, PETA sent a letter today to Town Manager Bill Manousopoulos urging him to replace future fireworks displays with spectacular drone or laser shows that will captivate festivalgoers without traumatizing companion animals and wildlife—as many towns and cities across the country have already done.

“Fireworks terrify animals, many of whom are injured or killed as they try to flee the blasts by climbing, breaking, or digging their way out of wherever they are,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA urges St. John to help protect the dogs and cats at its shelter—and every other animal within earshot—and join the many other cities now offering breathtaking laser or drone shows that don’t literally scare animals to death.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Manousopoulos follows.

July 11, 2024

Bill Manousopoulos

Manager

Town of St. John

Dear Mr. Manousopoulos:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including tens of thousands across Indiana—in response to complaints we’ve received about Freedom Fest’s fireworks display, which apparently took place in Heartland Park, located a short distance from the town’s animal shelter. We’re writing to request that you commit to not launching fireworks displays in the future, especially in such close proximity to the shelter in order to spare animals such terrifying blasts.

For animals, fireworks are bombs bursting in air. Dogs and cats often frantically struggle to escape the chaos by climbing, breaking, or digging their way out of wherever they are. In fact, many shelters report an increase in lost dogs and cats following fireworks displays. Those who arrive at animal shelters sometimes have bloody paws or even broken bones, and some are never reunited with their families. Others are doomed to a worse fate—hit by cars or strangled when their collars become caught on fences that they tried to clamber over.

Fireworks displays also cause a great deal of stress, anxiety, and fear in wildlife. Frightened deer have run onto roadways and even ripped out their antlers trying to flee. Startled birds have abandoned their nests and crashed into homes, windows, and each other. In one instance, more than 5,000 dead or dying red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky during a fireworks display in Beebe, Arkansas. Fireworks also produce smoke and dust laden with toxic particles that are harmful to the respiratory systems of humans and other animals.

Please consider canceling the fireworks display at next year’s Freedom Fest and instead using alternatives such as cutting-edge laser-light or drone shows, which wouldn’t traumatize animals at the nearby shelter, are safer, produce virtually no air pollution, and are an increasingly popular option.

Thanks for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President

cc:       Beth R. Hernandez, Clerk-Treasurer, Town of St. John