Close to New Year’s Eve every year, the well-known firecrackers start to be heard. Children with their hoods pulled over their heads run after the cars, sneaking here and there until they run and retreat to empty streets.
The old woman, the dog, and the neighbor
The elderly are always the most upset and disturbed by firecrackers and any noise. The young people are too busy to give them importance, the parents too tired to react, and only the old people, whether on the road or at home, show their anger.
This is how the story that I witnessed this year began.
It’s a mild winter here in Romania, just like late autumn. For several years now, our noses have not frozen much; we miss the ‘real’ winter. When the evening fell, I went for a walk under the high buildings of Bucharest, hasty to get to the park. Some pale lights in the lanterns on the side of the road, and here my beautiful story gets interrupted. Suddenly, a small light falls two steps in front of me. Out of instinct, I take two steps back, and I heard how it exploded. A small thing, the kids play with, just a petard, but my God how much fear that made me feel. Yes, I was scared, because you don’t expect it to fall from above. It could fall in my hood, it could fall on my hat – many things could happen… but coming back to our story. After my own soul almost left me, I started looking at the windows to see who the culprit was.
And then, from nowhere I heard this angry old woman’s voice saying: “It’s the neighbor from the third floor. He does this to me every time I go out for a walk with my dog.”
I thought it was funny. Who wouldn’t think so? A teenager who found someone to play with. But, on the other side- the poor dog! He was walking crouched, with his tail between his legs (I don’t even think he got to do what he intended to in those bushes:))).
Why are dogs and most animals terrified around the holidays?
In my story, the reason why the dog was so scared is because he heard that explosion twice as loud. And unlike us, who are aware of where the sound is coming from and who can calm down, dogs don’t have the conscious ability to repeat in their minds that it was just a joke.
How well do animals hear compared to people?
First of all, people hear sounds up to 20,000 Hertz (Hz), and small children hear a little above this limit. Dogs on the other hand hear sounds that reach frequencies around 47,000 Hz and 65,000 Hz. What does this thing mean? This means that a dog can hear things that are 4 times further than the distance at which we can hear them. This is the reason why some dogs come out to meet their master long before he is heard or seen by the family.
Even more, dogs hear sounds 4 times quieter than the minimum sound that we can hear.
Equally, cats can hear sounds up to 64,000 Hz, rabbits up to 42,000 Hz, and horses up to 33,500 Hz.
How does this translate into human experience? If we were to experience the same thing as dogs, it would mean hearing some very loud sounds that would make our ears bleed, our heads hurt, etc. But because the range of sounds that we can perceive is up to 20,000 Hz, the sounds that exceed this limit do not affect us because we do not hear them.
Then the intensity of the sound also matters. What is silent for us can be extremely loud for dogs, just like the sound of a hair dryer for example. If for us the sound made by a hair dryer is normal, then for the dogs it is unbearable because they hear it 4 times louder. So they will try to move away from the source of the sound.
Similarly, on New Year’s Eve, many animals trying to protect themselves will run away from home if there are very loud sound sources that affect them. Any sound with an intensity higher than 85 dB* can cause hearing loss in animals, which is why many animals are no longer found (they don’t know how to orient themselves without hearing, and they can’t hear their owner who is looking for them).
*85dB meaning the sound of a helicopter, fireworks, a motorcycle engine, etc.
Conclusions
Many of those who own a dog, a cat, or other animals, have seen how affected they are by loud sounds. And if you haven’t imagined until now how much they are affected by the sounds around New Year’s Eve, you probably know now.
With this in mind, if you can help them by taking them to a quiet place, or with earplugs, by avoiding loud places – please do. In the end, our pets are like little kids, they need our protection. They trust us, and we must listen to them and try to understand how much some things can hurt them.
P.s. I also saw a couple with their dog at the New Year’s Eve fireworks in Bucharest. You don’t want to know how agitated, scared and at the same time tormented the dog was by sounds, lights, and by the owners who wanted to show off with a good dog. They were pulling the leash to the left and to the right for the dog to walk by the book, while he was trying to escape the agglomerated and noisy place.
Protect and take care of your pets.
