German dog owners sit out New Year's Eve chaos in airport hotels

Like hundreds of other pet owners, she has checked herself and her canine companion into a hotel near an airport, where a fireworks ban means the chaos will be far away on Wednesday night.

Gerauer, a 56-year-old filmmaker living near Frankfurt, still remembers the first New Year's Eve after she had adopted her mixed-breed dog from a shelter in Romania three years ago.

"She barked all night and lay trembling under the bed. I'm not going to put myself or my dog through that again," she told AFP, adding that back then she feared the panting dog was "about to have a heart attack".

German medical groups and police unions have long pushed for bans on private individuals setting off fireworks, citing the annual toll in injuries, especially from illegal and homemade explosives.

The call has been joined by environmental groups worried about fine-particle air pollution -- and by animal welfare groups.

"Noise, the smell of burning, and flashing lights are a nightmare for animals," warned the German Animal Welfare Federation.

The head of Berlin's two zoos, Andreas Knieriem, also called for a city-centre fireworks ban, arguing that the blasts and flashes in the sky stress animals in the enclosures, in homes and in the wild.

"We can be grateful that we live in a country at peace," he said. "Why some people voluntarily want to create a war-like atmosphere in their neighbourhood is a mystery to me."
'Night of horror'
Like every year in Germany, fierce debate has flared on whether to ban fireworks, a call Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government has so far resisted.

Foreign visitors, especially to big cities like Berlin, are often surprised at the extent of the alcohol-fuelled chaos in the crowded streets.

Detonations echo between buildings, rockets bounce off windows and acrid smoke fills the air -- all against the backdrop of blue police lights and wailing ambulance sirens.

"New Year's Eve in Germany is the evening in which all the nice, normal, practical, risk-averse people are replaced by gun-powder-touting, death wish-seeking pyromaniacs," writes British author Adam Fletcher in his book "How to Be German".

This year again promises to end with a collective mega bang: imports of pyrotechnics were up 62 percent on last year, totalling 42,400 tonnes, said the statistics office Destatis, citing data until September.

The figures do not include illegal imports, considered especially dangerous and responsible for many severe injuries, from vision loss and hearing damage to burns and severed hands.

Police union GdP also again called for a ban, describing crowd scenarios where "everything is flying around on our streets and pyrotechnics are being deliberately used as weapons to hinder and injure police and firefighters".

German Environmental Aid Association head Juergen Resch warned of a "night of horror of unprecedented proportions", citing injuries, "the suffering of millions of animals, and the extreme spikes in particulate matter".

The Association for Pyrotechnics and Artistic Fireworks has dismissed many such concerns and argued that serious accidents occur "almost exclusively due to illegal fireworks".
Four-legged friends
Many politicians have so far rejected a ban, fearful of being labelled killjoys.

The capital's mayor Kai Wegner has argued about fireworks that "99 per cent of Berliners use them very responsibly" and said he had "no intention of punishing these families".

One man shopping for fireworks, 54-year-old Erdogan, said he planned to enjoy setting them off with his 12-year-old son -- responsibly and in a designated green space.

"I was young once, I understand my son," he said.

Gerauer and her dog Joy, meanwhile, plan a relaxing forest walk before they check into the Moxy airport hotel, joined by many other dog owners.

"Around 100 rooms were booked by customers with dogs," a receptionist told AFP. She added that the "dogs are not allowed at breakfast or in the restaurant, that would be too chaotic".

The Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel even advertises a pooch-friendly package: "Celebrate the turn of the year together with your loyal four-legged friend -- stress-free, without fireworks, but full of heart!"

Many others opt to simply camp out in airport terminals.

A Duesseldorf airport spokesman said that "it is not uncommon to see dog owners visiting the terminal on New Year's Eve and relaxing on the benches with their four-legged friends at their feet".