To not understand why they can't just make fireworks that don't BANG!

[StepAwayFromGoogle]

Just that really. Sitting here listening to the ridiculously LOUD banging, praying my 1 year old doesn't wake up and thinking about all the absolutely terrified animals up and down the country and thinking WHY DO THE SODDING THINGS HAVE TO BANG? Surely they could just make pretty patterns in the sky, maybe even some whooshing sounds, without the need for the flipping deafening bang?

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR all I'm off to my bed...

@ crying over spilt tea
Try teaching a flight animal like a horse not to impale himself on a fence post like mine did or break out and run into a motorway, or to smash his face and die in a stable wall through terror

Why can't they do more laser shows? With a fantastic soundtrack, fog machines etc??
I hate the loud ones.

Horrible things - noisy, dirty, dangerous and expensive.
I don't understand why there isn't a ban on public sale. Yesterday some shit kids round my way were lobbing them at cars.

How are dogs socialised to deal with other things they find alarming? How are police dogs trained to not be afraid?

Some police dogs will fail their training. Not all dogs can be trained to not be afraid. You can help minimise their fear but think about all the things you might be afraid off. How would subjecting you to those things make you feel.

It wouldn't be so bad if fireworks were regulated so you didn't have at least 2 weeks over bonfire night and then people randomly setting them off anytime they like over new year or really anytime they felt like it. I am amazed that we still allow fireworks to be sold to anyone.

You can get quieter ones.

I live in London so we sat on the balcony to watch the fireworks, I’m very lucky in that my cat isn’t scared of them. But so many animals are, both domesticated and wild. It really isn’t fair to put them through it.

My dog slept through the fireworks curled up on the sofa with me. I've never trained him for this and he hates party poppers and crackers!)

I wouldn't go out and leave him alone on a night with expected fireworks.

Crying & what about horses & other livestock?

@BlouseAndSkirt How are dogs socialised to deal with other things they find alarming? How are police dogs trained to not be afraid?

Even if you could totally train and socialise dogs to not be afraid of fireworks, that's being rather narrow-minded, unless you're suggesting we train and socialise all non-canine pets and all the wildlife too. Unless the only animals that matter are dogs?

NYE fireworks are about scaring away the demons of the old year. It's something we've copied from the Chinese and Chinese New Year

Not in the UK it isn’t. Honestly, before the millennium it just wasn’t a ‘thing’.

Sounded like a bloody warzone here. One dog is fine with them as long as she's not outside. The other is completely terrified of them - panting, shaking, pacing. No amount of thundershirts, calning drops, safe spaces or training, has made a jot of difference - he's frighted of them, end of.

In fairness to him, I didn't enjoy them much either. They were so loud the windows were shaking.

Well, I did not think I was that old but obviously I am - when I grew up most fireworks were nearly silent - a bit of whooshing or whirring (Catherine wheels) and that was it. Apart from rockets which made a small bang or pop before releasing lovely sparkly display. There were in fact some noisy fireworks - Bangers - that only very bad boys got hold of (and threw at each other and other people) - most households did not have bangers as they were considered a bad thing. I am pretty amazed that people are surprised you can get (almost) silent fireworks. For me, it was always the pretty display that I enjoyed. Now, in the London outer suburb I live in, you might feel as though you are on the Somme on every firework celebration day.

you might feel as though you are on the Somme on every firework celebration day

You really wouldn't.

Given the worries about the climate, why not do something like they did in Singapore with drones? Just as pretty and nowhere near the noise you get with fireworks.

Many countries ban the sale of fireworks except for licensed public displays.
People know where they will be and can go and see them, or stay away.
It works for them and I don't see why it can't work for the UK.

I bought a box of low noise fireworks for bonfire night - they were all fountains

@Cryingoverspilttea, what a load of shit! My rescue had a firework thrown at him as a puppy, and my other rescue is also equally scared, because of her background. My other wee dog gives no fecks for fireworks. Nothing to do with training. Fireworks have got far louder in recent years, so much so that sounded like a war zone.

I certainly don't want to spoil people's fun, but would certainly advocate quieter fireworks, no need for them to be that loud, and actually damage people's hearing.

Firework manufacturers can make the fireworks quiet or loud, it's not hard for them. Loud fireworks are currently legal and are popular to buy. There is a noise limit, and IMHO it would be sensible and uncontroversial to reduce this.

My view is that if you don't like the noise of fireworks, don't choose to live in a city which has them. Live rurally. I wonder how some of you would cope with the Chinese New Year fireworks? If you think these ordinary fireworks are bad.

@SarahNade I didn't get a choice on where I live. The house I live in I moved into when I was 4. Back then, fireworks on NYE were unheard of. Yet now, on Bonfire night (and the 2 weeks either side) and NYE, you could be forgiven for thinking it's a war zone.
Maybe, just maybe, people could sacrifice most of the noise? Fireworks do not need to be so loud they can shake a house 1/2 a mile away. No one needs fireworks that loud.
If I could move, I would. Unfortunately, the house I live in (and own) is part of a dispute with the local council over nursing home fees that should have been waived due to my disability, but weren't. Until that's decided one way or the other, I can't even start planning to move as I won't know what my budget would be for certain until the dispute is resolved.

What are you on about @sarahnade? It’s not just cities that pack people in like sardines? I doubt anybody on this thread who’s mentioned their horses are posting from a city centre

I live in a small town after living in a city and it’s just as bad for inconsiderate firework usage if not slightly worse tbh. How about just getting rid of the problem then people can live anywhere?

Also what have Chinese fireworks got to do with it? If you don’t like fireworks you’re hardly likely to seek out a Chinese New Year celebration are you its not exactly a core life skill. Which brings us back to the point that private fireworks are intrusive in residential areas.

My view is that if you don't like the noise of fireworks, don't choose to live in a city which has them. Live rurally.

I am assuming that you live in a city and have never lived 'rurally'. Because it doesn't make any difference having lived in both.

@BiteyShark You would assume wrongly, because I live in a rural area. Rural areas do not have New Year's Eve fireworks, only the cities do. At least where I am.

@Cornettoninja I don't understand your post? I wasn't talking about cities being where people where packed in like sardines. I was talking about fireworks. Fireworks, are held in cities. Hence my comment.

Anyone can set off fireworks. It isn't just in cities. All it takes is for someone to go in and purchase fireworks to let them off in their own garden. They happen in rural and city areas because people live in both.

I would prefer that it was only licensed premises that could do it at set times of the year then at least you would know where and when it would occur. That to me would be a suitable compromise.

Well I don't understand that. Where I am no citizen can purchase fireworks, they are only hosted by local council authorities, and usually only in cities, over a body of water. Ordinary citizen cannot just let fireworks off.