Government Consultation on Firework Sale and Use

If you work with animals, or simply share your home with one, you will know how hard firework season can be. For a few weeks each year, calm and confident animals can become frightened, withdrawn, and difficult to settle. For the professionals who care for them, it is one of the most challenging times of the year.

There is now an opportunity to change that. On 16 July 2026 the government opened a public consultation on fireworks and pyrotechnics in the UK, the most significant review of fireworks law in years. For anyone who cares about animal welfare, it is well worth understanding, and well worth responding to.

What the government is proposing

The consultation, run by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, is seeking views on three main changes. The first is restricting the loudest fireworks so they are only available to professional display operators, rather than the general public. The second is adding more products to the existing banned list where they carry unacceptable safety or antisocial risks. The third is reviewing the rules on lower-risk products so they are proportionate to the risk they actually pose.

The clear thread running through the proposals is noise. The government is proposing to reduce the maximum noise level of consumer fireworks from the current 120 decibels, and is asking how far that reduction should go.

What the evidence says about animals

The impact of fireworks on animals is not a matter of opinion, it is well documented. According to the PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report, 40% of dogs, 34% of cats and 18% of rabbits in the UK are frightened of fireworks. The PDSA estimates that this adds up to millions of pets experiencing distress every year.

The picture is just as serious beyond cats and dogs. The British Horse Society has recorded more than 1,120 firework-related incidents involving horses over a twelve-year period, including over 200 injuries and around 40 deaths, and believes only around one in ten incidents are ever reported. Livestock such as pigs and sheep show raised heart and breathing rates in response to loud bangs, and wildlife is affected too, with studies showing bird flight activity increasing sharply in the area around firework displays.

Veterinary professionals see the consequences first-hand. In one PDSA survey, more than half of vets reported an increase in animals with noise phobias, and 83% agreed that fireworks should be more tightly regulated. That professional consensus matters.

Government polling reflects the same concern among the public. Of the people who said they disliked firework noise, 91% pointed to the effect on animals, ahead of the effect on their own peace and quiet and on vulnerable people. Animal welfare is now central to this debate, and the evidence base is strong.

Why this matters for pet professionals

As a pet professional, you see the reality behind these numbers. You are the ones settling frightened dogs, reassuring anxious owners, and adjusting your working day around the fireworks calendar. That first-hand experience is exactly the kind of evidence that makes a consultation response powerful, because it is grounded in real animals and real welfare, not just statistics.

A change in the noise limit would not stop people enjoying fireworks. Professional displays would continue as they are. What it would do is take the very loudest products out of general circulation, reducing the sudden, unpredictable bangs that cause animals the most distress.

How you can have your say

The consultation is open to everyone and closes on Wednesday 7 October 2026. You can respond directly by searching "fireworks and pyrotechnics consultation" or clicking the link below.

The Animal Focused Alliance will also be submitting a united response on behalf of the pet sector. We will be contacting our members through the next newsletter to gather their views and their real-world experiences, so that our submission reflects the whole community rather than individual voices alone. When the sector speaks with one clear, evidence-based voice, the people setting the rules are far more likely to listen.

Firework season will always be part of the calendar. With the right evidence and a considered response, we have a real chance to make it kinder for the animals in our care.