People preparing for Bonfire Night celebrations in Stone have been urged to make sure that any sky lanterns they buy do not pose a risk to animals.
Staffordshire County Council’s animal health team has urged people not to buy sky lanterns without checking they are 100 per cent biodegradable.
Some lanterns contain wire parts that can be lethal to animals.
Debris from sky lanterns often land in rural areas. Wire parts contained in some lanterns have been eaten by cattle and can cause a slow and painful death.
The county council’s animal health team has received numerous calls about incidents of livestock that have eaten the wire parts.
The team is asking anyone who buys lanterns to ensure they are marked as 100% biodegradable and to check this description is accurate. The team have received examples of lanterns which contain wire parts – despite being marked as biodegradable.
Pat Corfield, Cabinet member for communities, culture and customers, said: “Lanterns containing wire pose a very serious risk to the welfare of livestock. Sometimes such products have been mislabelled as biodegradable. People should contact our animal health team if they come across these lanterns and certainly not use them.”
Staffordshire County Council’s animal health team can be contacted on 01785 277875 or by email at animal.health@staffordshire.gov.uk
