More than half of those surveyed by The Warehouse preferred to attend public fireworks displays than have fireworks at home. The company said the decision to discontinue the sale of fireworks was driven by customer research, which showed that more than half of those surveyed preferred to attend public fireworks displays than have fireworks at home. "There is strong evidence that fireworks can cause both psychological and physical harm to animals, so reducing the public sale of fireworks should help to minimise that," Ashton said. Criticism had also been levelled by emergency medical staff, who are required to attend to many injuries caused by fireworks every year. ACC data recorded between 2010 and 2019 showed there were 2710 claims for injuries caused by fireworks.

Source: Otago Daily Times May 23, 2021 23:26 UTC