Cattle farmer Astrid Bye from Meisingset in Tingvoll knew New Year’s Eve was going to be scary for her animals. She did what she could to calm them down before the fireworks went off, but it wasn’t enough. After the cows had run out the door in panic, Bye found a calf that had tried to follow its mother. It had been run down, stomped on the head and killed. – It is terrible. It feels so meaningless when it is a newborn life that is lost in that way. And for rockets, something that is so unimportant, says the farmer. Cattle farmer Astrid Bye lost a calf due to the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Photo: Privat / Privat Did everything she could Bye says her animals are always scared on New Year’s Eve. None of them have lost their lives before, but several have taken to the woods or torn down gardens. She says that one New Year’s Eve before, they tried to close the doors to the barn, but that then it got even worse – the animals couldn’t calm down inside. – We have tried such measures as starting the tractor and driving so that they hear the second dur. We have even started a unit to create sound, so it is not that things are untested. – I feel that people feel it is a human right to be allowed to set off fireworks, says Bye. The farmer tried to calm down his animals before the fireworks started, but it was no help as it was really small. Photo: Privat / Privat Only one party proposes a ban A large number of organizations have for years advocated a ban on private fireworks. The vast majority of Norwegians want the same. Just around New Year’s Eve this year, several serious incidents have occurred: Some municipalities have local bans or restrictions on private use of fireworks, for example in exposed districts, but municipalities cannot introduce a total ban. Only one party has advocated a total ban across the country – the Green Party (external link). – There is no reason why we should continue with this which harms both people and animals, says Ingrid Husby Liland. Photo: Nicklas Knudsen / Nicklas Knudsen – It’s a bit incomprehensible to me. It seemed to me that it is such a simple measure to deprioritize fireworks in order to take care of people’s health, says deputy head of MDG, Ingrid Husby Liland. She says the party will see if this is the time to propose a ban on private fireworks, either in Parliament or as a question to the government. – It is scarier to forbid and mandate new things than it is to accept the world as it already is. There, we are perhaps a bit more willing to change than the other parties, says Liland. A popular tradition? When it is popular to ban fireworks – why is only one party in favor of it? Political commentator at news, Tone Sofie Aglen, thinks it may be that fireworks are perceived as a popular tradition. Political commentator in news, Tone Sofie Aglen, is certain that the debate would have been more lively if fireworks were new today. Photo: news – And that many politicians worry about being a kind of party brake. Some will think that there are limits to how much the politicians should regulate, says Aglen. She still thinks that there would have been more discussion if fireworks were something that was introduced today. – It is probably not a bold prediction that the debate would have looked quite different, says Aglen. Should private fireworks be illegal? Sure! It’s old-fashioned for private individuals to do this kind of thing ? Well, I don’t really care ? No, people must then be allowed to do what they have done before ? Show result – Very unnecessary and sad – It’s very unnecessary and sad, says Bjørn Gimming about what happened in the barn in Tingvoll. Photo: Christian Nygaard-Monsen / news – There are many animals, both wild and wild, that are negatively affected and frightened by fireworks, says Bjørn Gimming. Norway’s farmers’ association, which he leads, has not adopted a policy regarding what they think of fireworks, but Gimming believes that it is very sad when animals lose their lives in that way. – It’s just sad when this happens. It is probably a matter of lack of knowledge on the part of those who set off the fireworks, says Gimming.
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Calf trampled in full after New Year’s Eve fireworks – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
