Watch the devastating effects fireworks have on this dog

A pet owner has shared footage of her dog cowering in fear in a bid to help prevent the misuse of fireworks ahead of bonfire night.

Fiona MacFarlane, 37, filmed her rescue greyhound Charlie shaking uncontrollably on her kitchen floor after loud bangs were heard outside.

The business owner, of Burnbank, Hamilton, posted the clip on social media and called for fireworks users to consider animals suffering at this time of year.

Speaking to STV News, Ms MacFarlane said: “What you see in that video clip, is basically him for around 90 minutes to two hours – on the back on two or three loud bangs of fireworks.

“That happens almost every night for three weeks at this time of year. It’s a nightmare.

“It’s so difficult to manage and difficult to get him to understand that nothing is actually going to happen to him.

“It would be fine if we just had it one night a year but weeks on end is just too much.

“I’m at the end of my tether with it.”

Ms MacFarlane shared the footage of Charlie’s panic on Facebook on Sunday and wrote: “Shove yer fireworks up yer bahookie.

“This is 36 seconds out of (so far one hour) of this on the back of two big bomb-like explosions in Burnbank, Hamilton, tonight.

“I filmed him at the start of his panic and then put a blanket over him, and popped a bed next to him.

“A lot of comments saying he shouldn’t be on a cold floor or I should hug him.

“He’s 36kg and unmovable in this state. When he rallies, he moves to the bed, then I sit with him on the floor until he comes out this and up on the couch.

“Anyone who knows myself and Charlie knows that I only ever have his best interests at heart.

“We go through this every year and nothing helps stop the reaction (all the prescribed drugs, thundershirt, wraps, earmuffs/plugs, aromatherapy, vests, plug-ins herbal stuff, CDs etc.

“Spent a small fortune in six years but absolutely nothing takes the edge off.

“He’s now under a blanket, drooling on the floor and still shaking as much as he was 30 minutes ago (when I filmed this).

“Wish people would keep them until November 5 and they were licensed for organised displays only.”

Since then the post has had almost 800,000 views.

Ms MacFarlane said: “We’ve had Charlie for six years and every fireworks period I usually film him with a 15-20 second clip showing his stress.

“I make the footage public and a couple of friends will normally share it but on Sunday my post seemed to grow arms and legs and has now gone viral as you can see.”

As bonfire night approaches Ms McFarlane has urged people to consider animals when using explosive pyrotechnics.

She said: “Be aware of the effects it has on not only domestic animals but on wildlife too.

“I don’t know how many more videos we have to see of animals in fear before anyone takes notice.

“I’m not calling for fireworks to be banned but if it can be kept to one night a year that would be ideal.”

Elaine Floyd, manager of the Scottish SPCA’s rehoming centre in Inverness said, “Animals have heightened senses and their hearing is much stronger than ours.

A dog’s hearing is twice as sensitive as a human’s and a cat’s three times.

“The current legal noise limit for a firework is 120 decibels.

“To put this into perspective, a pneumatic drill measures around 100 decibels and people are advised to wear ear protection when exposed to anything above 80 decibels.

“We’ve been made aware of numerous incidents over the years where animals have come to serious harm and even death as a result of fireworks being set off near them.

“Animals will panic and flee at the sound of the bang and this can result in injury to the animals and even road traffic accidents.

“We’ve received reports of cats and dogs escaping as they look for a safe place to hide and sheep getting stuck in fences as they flee displays set off near their field.

“We’re also aware of incidents where farm animals have aborted their young soon after nearby fireworks displays.

“We’re encouraging the public to attend organised displays rather than set off their own fireworks. This will allow pet owners to take appropriate action to minimise the distress caused to their animals.”