Keep Safe This Winter
Daylight saving has ended, the first southerly storm for the winter is here, and for many of us, its time to get the fire going or the electric heater out. But just like summer, winter brings its own unique set of fire dangers.
Please take some time to think about our fire safety tips while you work on keeping your family safe and warm.
• If you’re using electricity to heat your home, don’t overload power points – use multi-boxes instead.
• Check that any heater is free of dust and in safe working order. If you’re using a portable gas heater, it should be serviced every 12 months – now is a good time.
• If your gas heater doesn’t light straight away, turn it off and try again. Don’t let the gas build up before trying to relight it.
• Never cover any heating appliance.
• Clean chimneys and flue before your first fire of the winter (There are a couple of recommendations for chimney sweeps here on Neighbourly).
• Don’t throw rubbish into the fireplace – particularly batteries and aerosol cans.
• Ashes can take up to five days to cool – always empty fireplace or woodburner ashes into a metal bin and pour water over them before you dispose of them.
Remember the heater-metre rule – always keep furniture, curtains, clothes and children at least one metre away from heaters and fireplaces.
Keep warm and stay safe, and if you need to know more about winter fire safety, contact your nearest Fire Station
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.9% Summer
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36.4% Winter
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1.7% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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