Did you see a drone lightshow in the sky near Telford? Here's what it was - and the New Year's Eve message behind it
If you have recently spotted floating lights over a Shropshire village there is a good, charitable reason behind a recent batch of drones being launched into the sky.
Drone company AeroAVA has a test site in Sheriffhales, east of Telford and south of Newport, and has been helping Dogs Trust with some awareness raising.
A recent drone show made out the face of a pooch, in the shape of the logo of the Dogs Trust, which has an important base near Shrewsbury.
The drones then reformed to spell out Dogs Trust.
New Year's Eve spells dread for some animal owners whose pets and livestock are scared by the bangs of fireworks - so the show was a good way to show how drones can be a cooler and quieter alternative to explosives, said Dogs Trust.
It runs a rehoming centre in Shrewsbury, which is where Chris Bradbury from AeroAVA adopted his lurcher Humphrey from.
The company also raised £500 for the charity. The 100 drones formed the Dogs Trust logo, 'Homer' the dog, who is on the dog tag of every dog in the charity’s care, symbolising that they are safe and protected.
“Dogs often prefer drones to firework displays due to being quieter and Dogs Trust knows that New Years' Eve fireworks can be distressing for some dogs,” said a spokesperson for the charity.
Dogs Trust has tips on its website showing animal owners how to cope.
Chris Bradbury, technical director of AeroAVA said: “My wife and I rescued Humphrey from Dogs Trust after our previous dog Dash passed away.
“Dash was petrified of fireworks and even a single ‘pop’ would see him on edge for hours afterwards.
“However, Dash attended drone displays when he was alive, and they never bothered him at all.
“We’ve had a couple of dogs attend our shows and as the noise from a drone show is not aggressive or sudden in nature compared to fireworks, so it’s much better for dogs and other animals.”
