Animal shelters across Darwin are preparing for an influx of distressed pets during Territory Day fireworks celebrations on Monday night. One shelter is getting ready to sedate around 50 dogs and is urging the public to be mindful of their pets during the festivities.
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00:00It's all hands on deck for these volunteers, ahead of a stressful event for around 50 rescue
00:08dogs.
00:09We've actually got sheets up on all the pens so that we can shelter them from the flashing
00:13lights and then we sedate them for the couple of days coming up to cracker night just to
00:18get them used to being on medication and that will reduce a little bit of their reactivity
00:23through the night.
00:25The 1st of July Territory Day fireworks are a beloved tradition for many locals, but for
00:30Darwin's four-legged residents, the explosions can trigger a fight or flight response.
00:35For those without a home, it's especially distressing.
00:38You'd love to take them all home and look after them, but the staff do the very best
00:44they can to keep them calm and comfortable, but yeah there'll be a lot of stressed dogs
00:48Monday night for sure.
00:50Before being sedated, volunteers take the dogs for one last walk and play before drawing
00:55the curtains on their temporary homes.
00:58The cats also get some TLC.
01:01Dogs ears are much more sensitive to sound, so what can be a loud bang for us, for Buster
01:06here, can be deafening.
01:07Buster's been here pretty much all his life and he's a great dog, he gets on wonderfully
01:13with other dogs, we match him up with other dogs to play, they get adopted and poor old
01:17Buster's still here, but he's great, he really needs a home.
01:21The shelter's permanent staff are extremely grateful for their volunteers' dedication.
01:26They take them out walking and they sit there and play with them and help encourage dogs
01:31to be happier that have been here for such a long time, so yeah, absolutely love them.
01:37It's a rough night ahead for these homeless poochers, and the shelter's urging pet owners
01:41to take their own dogs out for an early walk before closing the curtains with some distracting
01:46music to ease anxiety.