... to be irritated by pet owners going on about fireworks given the impact that people having pets has on society and the environment?

[Kallyderon]

It's just about time for the annual whingefest about people setting off fireworks to start and it's boring. If you own a domestic animal then your animal impacts on people around you all year round in terms of waste, meat production, safety, sanitation and noise. It also impacts on wildlife.

Given that, and given that no one is obliged to own another living creature, it's a bit much to expect all the other humans around you to refrain from doing something they enjoy because it might make your dog unhappy.

Tbh there are sound environmental reasons for opposition to fireworks but they don't do even half as much damage to wild creatures and their habitats as the average cat or dog, so that's a moot point anyway and obviously not of great concern to you otherwise you wouldn't own a dog.

So AIBU to say give it a rest?

Well in this country we actually need more children & if not then more immigration.

If you are talking about the environment, we don't need more children. The best thing for the planet would be for the human race to stop reproducing altogether, so all the other animal and plant species that we are destroying can reclaim it. Obviously that won't happen because many people have an uncontrollable urge to bear children, or they become pregnant by accident, but it's nonsense to suggest the impact of humans on earth is anything but damaging.

Dog shit, incidentally, is deeply unpleasant to humans but it doesn't damage the environment.

In the absence of humans, pet species would simply revert to a wild existence in harmony with nature's predator/prey cycle. In a few generations, 'designer' dogs with genetic problems would disappear and all dogs would be mongrels.

I don’t have pets. I still think that only arseholes let off fireworks in the gardens (with the exception of very large isolated gardens on one occasion). Am I allowed to have an opinion?

@ScreamingValenta pet species are domesticated. Like many domesticated animals many simply wouldn’t survive in the wild. There certainly is no ‘reverting’ to something they aren’t.

Velveteenfruitbowl The ones that wouldn't survive would be the over-engineered ones, so to speak. Those that need human help to exist would die out. Others, those that haven't been too far modified from their natural blueprints, would go feral and would certainly survive.

To clarify, when I say they would 'revert' to the wild, I am speaking about the species, rather than individual animals.

If you are talking about the environment, we don't need more children. The best thing for the planet would be for the human race to stop reproducing altogether, so all the other animal and plant species that we are destroying can reclaim it. Obviously that won't happen because many people have an uncontrollable urge to bear children, or they become pregnant by accident, but it's nonsense to suggest the impact of humans on earth is anything but damaging.

Yes, we have an urge to preserve ourselves as a species. That is why Extinction Rebellion is called that. We do not want to die out as a species.

If we find that we absolutely can't survive much longer and should die out, to preserve what is left of the planet, we have a huge clean up operation to do before we go. That will take a few generations.

We do not want to die out as a species.

I'm probably in a minority, but I think it would be a good thing if we did.

The best 'clean up' operation we could do would be to disappear. Nature will clean up by itself. Look at how quickly an unmaintained road or house becomes overgrown with plant life.

Some damage will indeed take generations to undo, but there's no value in humans trying to intervene there.

Not so bothered about the actual fireworks, but this year will be my DD's first firework night and I know the whole week is going to be horrendous, I am dreading it.

There are lots of obvious reasons why letting off a huge, loud bang late at night could be very antisocial and cause a lot of problems for the people around you, so I don't think they should be available to the public and certainly not at any time of the year.

I'm probably in a minority, but I think it would be a good thing if we did.

Yes, I think you're in the minority .

Putting aside my natural urge to want humans to live on agree that we will eventually die out and 'Gaia' will sort herself out etc, but I hope we don't yet, as we will leave one hell of a mess behind. I think we can do a lot to clean up in the next hundred years or so. But I wouldn't be surprised either way. I hope I'm right though, for the sake of the planet and humanity. I also just don't want us to be remembered as the species that only did damage. We can improve our image in the earth's history if we live on for a bit and clean up.

Just my view etc.

I wonder how many dog owners who are asking firework users (?) to consider their dogs or ptsd sufferers consider others who may be fearful of dogs?

I don't know but I have 3 dogs (who are not scared of fireworks as it happens) and I...

a) actively work to keep them away from other people unless they indicate they want to interact with the dogs;
b) would go put of my way to keep them at great distance, hidden etc from someone who I knew to be scared of them. Because I am not a shit who would deliberately do something that made someone else scared.

Quiet fireworks with no bangs allow people to enjoy the display without causing all the grief. I just don't understand how a loud bang brings so much pleasure that it's worth scaring other animals/people for...

What about all the people who are scared of dogs though? Isn't is a very common fear?

No, it's not a common fear.

If we're gonna rate how badly things affect the environment between fireworks, pets and people... I know which will come up top.

People are foul in general.
People who buy fireworks and let them off in the streets are far, far worse than people who have pets, and are upset that they are frightened.

In combination with environmental and safety reasons, being concerned for your pet is a legitimate reason to hate fireworks.

Why should a few minutes of enjoying watching something sparkle and make a loud noise trump the comfort of hundreds of local residents - humans and animals?

Obscenely selfish.

You are so NBU

In Ireland fireworks are not available to the general public. They seem to manage perfectly well with only licensed public displays.
I don't see why we couldn't manage to do the same.

“What about all the people who are scared of dogs though?”

The difference there though is that you can sit in your house knowing a dog isn’t going to suddenly appear...

I mean dogs shouldn’t be bothering anyone they’ve no business to, but sadly there are enough not great dog owners that I appreciate you can’t rely on them staying away from you in shared public places.

People and animals that are scared of fireworks can’t even avoid them by staying inside...

Fire works are a nuisance and a danger, both to the public and the environment. Unlike a turd on the pavement, difficult to avoid.

Sales to the public are forbidden in other countries for very good reasons.

We can improve our image in the earth's history if we live on for a bit and clean up

As we are the only apparently intelligent species then who,will be judging us? And if we're gone, why should we care?

I'm happy for us to die out as a species and no hysteria about climate change and damage to the environment will stop me owning dogs.

I really don't understand why anyone should compare fireworks with dogs fouling pavements.

They are two entirely different issues and should be dealt with separately.

As we are the only apparently intelligent species then who,will be judging us? And if we're gone, why should we care?

Well, I care and I think other humans do too. If it doesn't matter what we do now because we won't be around in the future, why should we do anything positive for any creature living beyond our own lifetimes. It's like those people who say they don't care about CC as they won't be here to see the worst of it.

Anyway, who knows what will come after us? Nobody knows.

I don't accept that we're a purely terrible species. I think we are capable of much better.

Saying we're all shit and it's a good thing we're dying out is, to me, cowardly, the easy way out and I won't do it. We have to strive to be better and that isn't easy.

Anyway, who knows what will come after us? Nobody knows.

If this race of humans died out, it's not impossible that another race might evolve, millions of years later when the planet has had time to recover.

I don't own a pet. However I strongly disagree that fireworks should be sold to the general public. Most let them off in too small a space, and don't bother to clear up the debris. They are dangerous and cause injury in the wrong hands.

Neighbourhoods are terrorised by idiots letting them off in the street, or worse throwing them at cars/houses.

People let them off at all hours for weeks, meaning anyone who is scared of them are scared for weeks - in some cases until after new year.

I live in a rural town, the very real damage fireworks cause to both farms and farm animals is scary. And the same goes for wildlife.

Fireworks (explosives by any other name) should only let handled by experts at organised displays.

Fireworks shouldn’t be for sale to the general public. Go to an organised display if you’re that bothered. It’s all bollocks anyway.
But they’re dangerous, terrible for the environment and people thinking It’s ok to set them off late at night when the baby (and me actually) are trying to sleep can fuck off.

I am finding the examples that posters are giving if people actually fastening fireworks to animals and then setting them off really distressing. Who could do such a thing

And actually I probably wouldn’t be as bothered (I would be, that’s a lie) if they were used for the purpose they were designed on the one night / time of the year but they’ve been going off all hours round here since the end of September. Shitbags.

If this race of humans died out, it's not impossible that another race might evolve, millions of years later when the planet has had time to recover.

I'd say it's fairly likely that it will eventually, depending on how long it takes for the earth to recover and how much life the sun has left in it etc. The more cleaning up we do now, the less time it will take to recover. And to clean up, we will need some humans; the right number of humans, who don't just shrug off their responsibilities and over consume like we do in this country. And overconsumption sometimes includes having lots of pets.