Criticism of fireworks

Dog jumped away in panic before the first fireworks

Daughter Maria Stiegler with her dog Keks(Bild: Roland Holitzky)

When New Year's Eve fireworks are just around the corner, everyone at the Stiegler horse farm in St. Margarethen in Lungau suffers with the animals: And there was a scary moment days before the turn of the year. Keks the dog, who is currently injured, fled from rockets and hid in the forest. 

"We were just outside with Keks for a short time," explains farmer Katharina Stiegler. Between the holidays, an unannounced firework display suddenly went off. The ten horses also became restless and the Bernese Mountain Dog, who had injured his pelvis in an accident, fled in panic. Stiegler: "At first we didn't know where he had disappeared to."

After two nerve-wracking hours, daughter Maria found the frightened four-legged friend in a wooded area around a kilometer away from the house. He had crawled away completely exhausted. Stiegler: "He would have frozen to death if we hadn't found him."

Farmer wants to raise awareness
In Lungau, shooting off fireworks on New Year's Eve is permitted in all municipalities. There are different time windows for this. In St. Margarethen, it is permitted from 5 pm to 2 am. In comparison, St. Michael restricts fireworks to two hours. Horse lovers and nature lovers are still clearly in the minority, according to criticism from St. Margarethen. 

"In the vicinity of farmsteads, there is actually a ban anyway," says Stiegler, who hopes for more understanding for the suffering of the animals in the future. This distance regulation is also completely toothless. She would like to invite those who don't know into the barn on New Year's Eve: "Then everyone is guaranteed to think differently." Her wish for a firecracker-free New Year's Eve remains.