That animal owners should practice what they preach.

[Queencercei]

I just want to start this by saying I absolutely hate fireworks, I am extremely scared of them and am currently writing this with headphones in with very loud music to try to mask the sound. I would 100% support banning fireworks and do feel so sorry for all the animals that are terrified of them.

There are lots of posts from animal owners asking for people to be considerate and not set off fireworks for their animals. However I live in a neighbourhood that is very popular with animals and constantly hear barking all day long, frequently very early in the morning (about 6/7 o’clock) and I’ve lost count of how much dog crap I’ve had to clean up from my front garden from owners not picking up after their animals and constantly having to look where I’m going when out walking in case I step in any.

Obviously I wouldn’t set off fireworks but can I can see why non animal owners would not be considerate for one day of the year when we have to deal with this all year round.

AIBU to think that if you want other people to be considerate towards your animals that you should also be considerate to non animal owners.

do the emergency services need extra hassle of fires....and injury? why should they have to clear up the fallout?

organised displays have risk assessments and first aid/fire plans in place.....home displays? no, they couldn't even give a shit about neighbours let alone clearing up the debris!

Our local FB group is full of these requests. I would never dare post a similar post asking people to be considerate of one of my DCs, I would have my arse handed to me in seconds. That tells you a lot about our society. I think that is pretty universal across the UK.

There is no right answer to this debate. There is no possible solution where literally everybody is happy.
Dogs/animals can’t constantly be protected from the outside world, nor can sensitive kids/adults.

Missing the point.... but the dogs are shitting in your garden? That's very unusual. Sure it's not fox or cat poo?

@honeyytoast

There is no right answer to this debate. There is no possible solution where literally everybody is happy. Dogs/animals can’t constantly be protected from the outside world, nor can sensitive kids/adults.

I guess there is some balance.

I love fireworks and I am happy with silent pretty fireworks and many shops sell those now. It's a bit more win/win/

@Velvian I agree, I am extremely scared of fireworks, have full on panic attacks, if I posted on FB the same as people do about their animals, I guarantee that no one would come to my defence and I would be called extremely selfish to stop people doing legally what they are allowed to do. Unfortunately I have to learn to cope in other ways.

@37weekswithno2 we have a patch of grass at the front so it’s just off the path, definitely dog, seen one do it, went out there to talk to the owner who was walking off, ooof if looks could kill.

It's funny OP I was thinking similar today, especially when the bullying dick head who allowed his bullying dickhead son to bully my son started commenting on the local group about it. But at the end of the day as much as I get sick to the back teeth of listening to dogs bark all day and the poo on the walking path, it's not really the animals fault. So I button my lip as much as I can and do my best to ignore.

I have to clean up dog shit from my front garden and have to watch for dog shit when walking anywhere near here. Lots of dog owners are twats.

However, my poor dog is terrified and I always pick his shit up. He's asleep at 6/7am so not barking. He's on a lead in public and doesn't jump on people or approach them. TBH I don't think that the kind of dog owners who don't pick up shit are the kind that are bothered about their dogs being scared of fireworks.

@DenimDrift

do the emergency services need extra hassle of fires....and injury? why should they have to clear up the fallout?

organised displays have risk assessments and first aid/fire plans in place.....home displays? no, they couldn't even give a shit about neighbours let alone clearing up the debris!

But obviously aggressive dog attacks, 'anxious nervous' dogs attacking out of fear, running into traffic are issues the emergency services should be dealing with every bloody month.

That's before you get into the dog shit and people who are terrified of the "he's just being fwiendly" dogs they have no choice about coming across. EVERY MONTH.

Absolutely sick of the sanctimonious but my dog's well behaved he's just anxious bullshit. If you're dogs anxious and you can't be arsed to ensure it's anxiety is YOUR problem and no one elses get rid of it. Anxious dogs are not something to be pitied they're a danger. keeping one means you are NOT a responsible dog owner.

I'd be very surprised if it was dogs shitting in your garden. More likely to be cats.

My dog rarely barks. He has barked more tonight because of the fireworks than he has in months. And I have managed to calm him down each time, only for more bloody fireworks to go off. If it was a planned event it would be easier as there would be a time limit. Loud noises ate bound to scare animals. I also pick up after my dog and make sure I never go without the means to pick up after him.

@Queencercei

I’m not saying that people should set off fireworks to scare animal owners because some are inconsiderate, but if you was planning on doing something and then someone asked you not to do it because you are being inconsiderate to them when they have been extremely inconsiderate to you, would you change your plans.

You're assuming that the dog owners who don't pick up shit are the same dog owners who ask you not to set off fireworks.

I just realised that I didn’t mention in my post that this only applies to setting off fireworks on 5th November.

Wish I could meet you in the park etc when I walk my dog in a park on a lead I might add and we meet other dog owners and my dog doesn't take a treat of them or jump up at them , they look at me like he's anti social and hasn't had any interaction with others.

christ @lilmishap where do you live, it sounds rough!

Agree op. I have a dog and
he is absolutely wonderful, a completely loved member of our family. However I am not so blinkered to think the world should revolve around him, and that people should temper their activities around bonfire night for him.

Couldn’t agree more OP.
Always dog owners too, “my dog is terrified”... and I don’t care. It’s a dog, an animal. Most people eat pigs, cows etc and don’t care about their “feelings” or even how they are farmed. It’s also annoying that the people suddenly highly concerned about fireworks we’re mostly buying plastic tat to destroy animal habitats with last week for a US style Halloween.

Firework lover and dog owner here, so hopefully a balanced view (if there is one on MN).

Dog owners should absolutely pick up after their dogs and put the bag in the bin, not the nearest hedge. Dog owners shouldn’t just assume their dog can go off lead, they should only be off lead if controlled and in an environment that permits it I.e there are no ground nesting birds or livestock. Dog owners should also try to train their dog from jumping at other people, bounding over to other people or dogs. Inevitably, when they are a puppy there is bound to be a few mistakes with that one and in that case the owners should be apologetic and make steps to correct the problem such as putting the dog on a lead. Dog owners should also not have a dog barking all day and address the issues for barking all day. Now I’m not perfect, we have an issue with barking when someone comes to the door. It’s been worsened by lockdown. We are working on it but whilst we’re still in this situation, it’s quite a hard behaviour to correct - we’re spending more time at home, our dog is more territorial, fewer people are coming into the house. But we’re working on it. Our dogs are not affected by fireworks. One was outside going to the toilet as there were several going off earlier, he just did his things and came back inside no worse for wear. So this isn’t from a place of my dog is sensitive to them.

I absolutely think that back garden displays should be illegal. Fireworks are explosives. Every year, there are people who end up seriously hurt or start fires because of back garden firework displays. You are letting untrained individuals, usually who have had a drink, loose with explosives in heavily built up areas (usually the more rural areas all have animals and don’t bother). It’s a recipe for disaster. In addition, there is no control over when they are let off. Fireworks in people’s garden have been going off for two weeks now. If you have a nervous pet, or someone with dementia at home or someone suffering PTSD - that is a long time for people and animals to be medicating. Especially for something that might start a fire and causes thick smog to hang around in the morning. Organised displays are safe, managed by a professional, has insurance and is advertised in advance which allows pet owners and PTSD sufferers to prepare themselves and medicate if necessary. Those who are living with someone with dementia can put mitigation measures in place to limit how scared that person is. If it was just a few nights a year, bonfire night, NYE, Chinese New Year and Diwali, you could even go away for the evening. Remote hotels miles away from anyone could offer firework free evenings. People can’t generally afford two weeks off around every cultural event that uses fireworks.

There are people on both sides who are inconsiderate and generally tar everyone on both sides with the same brush. It would be much better if backyard fireworks were made illegal but you also had to pass a proficiency test with having a dog to ensure that everyone can pick up after a dog, control the dog or keep the dog on a lead. I’m not talking about dogs so perfectly trained they’ve lost their personality but just a basic understanding of what is expected as a dog owner. No doubt if both of those happened though we’d all find something else to be split on.

TBH I don't think that the kind of dog owners who don't pick up shit are the kind that are bothered about their dogs being scared of fireworks.

Well there is no way of knowing in most cases I guess. They might be the ones that pretend to bag it, or bag it and leave it hanging etc.

I live in a nice area, most folk walking dogs are from "nice" homes, path is still covered in shit. Was a lot better before everyone started working from home and walking their own dogs. Dog walking services are clearly a lot more considerate and efficient than a lot of dog owners.

I know not all dogs bark and not all owners leave shit behind. I think 3 quarters of the house in my street have a dog or two, it's the same ones you hear barking all the time. You don't hear a peep out of most of them.

I presume most of the owners also pick up poo, whether the barking dogs and the non picking up poo people are from the same houses, I wouldn't know.

Lol feel like I could of wrote this . Good points made .

@Velvian horrible isn’t it. Our local Facebook missing dog post got over 150 likes, a local school was broken into and vandalised and only 40 people reacted. I’ve had to unfollow it. It seems to be a cultural thing, like a fashion - poppies, missing dogs, “I’m a key worker” posts, but I haven’t found a name for it.

I have had so many bad experiences with dogs that I really don't like them now. Their owners have shown no consideration to me or my children letting them run up to us, bark at us, jump all over us, wipe dog drool on us, run all over our picnics ,knock food out of our hands, leave their faeces for us to walk in or get on pushchair wheels, my sister has been bitten by a dog.
In all of these incidents the owners have never apologised and in fact after one episode the owner implied it was our fault as we were having a picnic in a park. These same people expect others not to have fireworks because they chose to have pets.
Fireworks have long been a tradition in this country around this time of year and it would be a big shame if that was stopped.

Fair point OP. My kids put up with two big dogs barking and yowling opposite our house every night at their bedtime. We dodge crap on the way to school. And dogs constantly approach and sniff us each time we leave our house.
Our garden is full of cat shit and we don't have a cat.

[quote SantaRosahome]@Velvian horrible isn’t it. Our local Facebook missing dog post got over 150 likes, a local school was broken into and vandalised and only 40 people reacted. I’ve had to unfollow it. It seems to be a cultural thing, like a fashion - poppies, missing dogs, “I’m a key worker” posts, but I haven’t found a name for it.[/quote]
A cat got run over locally, which was sad, but ten or so local people ran an actual fundraising event with stalls and music and everything. They didn't even know the cat. The owner was not one of the people involved. You've got to admire that level of bonkers.

@PeonyandDahlia As a dog owner, I apologise that you have had so many bad experiences. These weren't bad dogs though, they were inconsiderate owners.

It is not just dogs that are badly affected by fireworks though. It is cats, small pets, livestock, wildlife as well. Not to mention humans that are very negatively affected. I personally don't like fireworks but I understand that bonfire night is part of British culture so I tolerate it. I do think that we need tighter controls on them though.