Omg, I am gobsmacked! Trigger warning - animal cruelty.

[Brigante9]

This company apparently thinks it’s a good idea to send up sky lanterns at this time to ‘support’ the NHS. I’ve seen damage to pets, horses, property and £70K worth of burnt up hay at a local farmer’s, horrible burns on a friend’s horse when the lantern landed on his rug and burnt all his back. I really think the fire brigade, NHS and other emergency services could do without people lighting a lantern and sending it god knows where right now!

Please feel free to email their complaints department (or not, if you think AIBU!) These things cause untold damage every year. I think this is very poor timing. I understand companies are struggling, but this is just irresponsible and does not support the NHS.

Also known as Chinese Lanterns, kind of ironic.

Hate them, they should be banned completely.

Fortunately, they have been banned by many local councils in Scotland:
www.nfus.org.uk/news/news/councils-applauded-banning-sky-lanterns
A few more Scottish councils have joined in the ban since that article was written, and some in England and a lot in Wales. Full list here www.mcsuk.org/campaigns/dont-let-go-councils

The ban should be extended throughout the UK - only Westminster has the power to do that. A parliamentary petition sounds like a good idea.

this is their tweet, if you're on Twitter, it has a lot of feedback and none of it (that i could see) was positive.

twitter.com/NightSkyLantern/status/1248263371465666561

I live near that zoo in Krefeld and it is devastating - i was recently looking at old photos and have one of me next to the silverback that perished. It's appalling that a company would promote these.

(they do say they have no wires to harm wildlife…)

but i have to say i had a snigger at the Union Jack lanterns.

Unfortunately, I dont think local band work... If you can buy something, people will presume it's legal. The sale of them needs to be banned. They are banned in Germany where the terrible zoo fire was- IIRC the people who let them off didn't know they were banned there.

I suspect they are hoping that people will be pressured/bullied by neighbours into buying and releasing these every week. This is nasty in the extreme. It will put the NHS under extra pressure, cause excruciating pain to burnt people and animals, not to mention the pressure on the fire services.
I feel ashamed to be the same species as the person who thought this advertisement is a good idea.

I've noticed a few posts on SM in my local area from horse and other livestock owners. Pretty much begging people not to do this and warning of the effects it can have to the animals.
It annoys me that people really need things like spelled out for them. Seriously where do they think these end up?

My old in-laws had damage caused to the roof on their conservatory by one of those things! They need banning not encouraging.

@LouMumsnet any chance of changing the title a little bit more to include a warning for people to not use Sky Lanterns. Adding that trigger warning will stop the very important message behind this thread from spreading as some people won’t click it.

just unbelievable

If someone starts a petition to get a bill through parliament, banning this along with helium balloons, or the release of all balloons (whatever is necessary to protect wildlife and the oceans) I would like to sign it.

There have been so many petitions about this and nothing. I despair.

Anyone who needs a trigger warning because of a photo of a dead bird needs to get a grip frankly. It's not exactly a scene from SAW is it?

Good lord, is that why it has a trigger warning? Heavens above!

On their FB page, they are saying that some of us are ‘not well informed’. Incredible. Not well informed? I don’t think one has to be a nuclear physicist to understand that the company is profiteering and that the damage these stupid things cause is disgraceful.

Not sure killing animals and potentially setting fires is the best way to support the NHS...least people are commenting in the right ways.
The company comments however..how are they safe? You cant control where they go. Hard if you company is built around selling these but time to find something less dangerous to sell.

Petition:

www.campaigns.nfuonline.com/page/53759/action/1?ea.tracking.id=CountrysideOnline

I’ve sent the email to my local council.

I commented on their FB page and shared the post encouraging others to do the same but I have also sent a message in a more neutral tone asking whether they, unlike other brands, are endorsed by the Fire Service and whether they can guarantee that they do not pose a fire risk. It will be interesting to see if I get a reply. Not that I would buy one anyway!

There is a Twitter backlash about them

Their FB is full of angry comments. The RSPCA link here is quite good, it’s already been posted on there, but apparently people complaining (including NHS workers) are ‘uninformed’. 🤬

www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/litter/chineselanterns?fbclid=IwAR3TaO2bPzbtWKnYIPRSn56d-GtdTRnzKgqEv64m5K8I2Su39CIU5BOSqSg

Think they’ve blocked me from their FB page, heart breaking! 😂

I’m appalled at their response to the German zoo disaster, caused by sky lanterns. See pic, un flipping believable.

I was camping the first time I saw these used. Campers had gone into the dog walking field at dusk and lit them, and watched them drift over the campsite, full of tents, at dusk, when a lot of young children had already been put to bed.

I don't know how aware people are of the speed at which modern tents catch fire, but there are clips on YouTube for anyone who's in any doubt about how flammable they are. It's terrifying.

The twats couldn't see that they had done anything wrong, even when the site managers were telling them, in no uncertain terms.

As it's not possible to legislate for compulsory 24-hour supervision for stupid people, these bloody lanterns need to be banned.

On a campsite? Are some people complete idiots?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves no, they are not complete idiots. They have bits missing like their brains.

This site gives a list of the councils that have banned lanterns. Might be handy www.countrysideonline.co.uk/care-for-the-countryside/sky-lanterns/

Handy explanation (not that anyone on here needs one, but I know some persistently stupid people!) from a friend of a friend on FB who’s heard about this company.

Please share on your social media!

This is the owner of the company trying to persuade us to ‘support’ the NHS by sending balls of flame round the U.K. Feel free to comment on his Facebook. www.facebook.com/fabio.paduanelli