Many of us have heard the 4th of July fireworks warnings before. Be careful with fearful animals, but few of us have seen the real consequences, until now.
A St. Clair Shores family is still going through after illegal fireworks lit up their neighborhood.
A 1-year-old greyhound is recovering from Saturday night after fireworks went off and he took off through a small opening in a gate. What happened next shows just how scared animals can get. A warning to what you're about to see may be considered graphic.
"For a while, they were telling us it was a 50/50 chance," said Peter Brnovich.
With fractured ribs, collapsed lungs and pads torn off his feet. He was out in the yard with his owner in St. Clair Shores on Saturday when the incident occurred.
"Out of nowhere this seemingly commercial grade explosion took place and the lights, the sky lit up and the dogs went into full panic mode," Brnovich said.
"It was a fraction of a second he was gone," he added.
Brnovich says Dwight somehow squeezed through an opening in the gate, running so hard down the street that his footpads came off.
"We couldn't locate him for a few minutes," Brnovich said. "And then we saw him racing this way, full greyhound speed, he wouldn't stop for anybody just full-blown terror."
He tried coming back as everyone was looking before he was eventually found, scared and exhausted. Vets would later confirm he was also likely hit by a car.
"He couldn't get up," Brnovich said. "We had to pick him up he was drenched in blood. He had urinated and defecated on himself."
Dwight isn't alone in his fear of fireworks. Forty-five percent of dogs share the phobia, according to researchers.
"I think we can be responsible enough to limit the time we use our fireworks," Brnovich said. "What kind we use, maybe just stick to going to the cities and park. Realizing also that there’s combat veterans with PTSD, elderly people with cardiac conditions."
