To be sick of people moaning about their pets and fireworks?

[Sophiehoney]

There's currently a debate on my local Facebook page as the people in the street behind me let off a long, spectacular firework display in their back garden which was very loud.
It was absolutely brilliant and my kids loved it.

Someone has moaned that her four cats are terrified and others are joining in and saying their cats/dogs are also distressed.

They are all saying they should have had a warning?? Even though it's the weekend before bonfire night??

But what really annoys me is that if you click on this woman's name and see all her past posts, she's moaned about the same bloody thing at the same time of year for the past SIX years!!!

Why has she done nothing to prepare for this even though she knows full well it happens around the same time??!!!

Right, and how do you think people can prepare animas for that?

Have some fucking empathy.

It's polite to let people know if you will be letting off fireworks nearby. It gives people time to make sure their pets are comfortable or kids who also don't like fireworks.

Lots of people and animals don’t like fireworks for very good reasons. Just because your family likes them doesn’t mean everyone should have to put up with it.

Fireworks should be banned, with only silent light displays allowed.
Poor animals & vulnerable people who have to put up with it.....not just 1 night for Bonfire Night but from Diwali till new years these days.

Can I moan about myself and fireworks instead?

Felt like we have been living in a war zone for several weeks now - every night, for hours, it’s mental.

Diwali has merged into Halloween (which has fireworks now?) will merge into bonfire night. Seemingly from 5-12 every day.

I can try as much as I want to prepare my autistic son for it. Still doesn’t stop him finding it distressing!

It wouldn’t be too bad if it was just on the key dates but it’s for weeks leading up to it with people letting off massive fireworks often ignoring the safe distances needed.

Wildlife and lifestock also get distressed by fireworks. But great that your kids loved it.

It's never going to change, the whinging on the Spotted Facebook groups is not going to change anything.

Start a petition, protest in London actually DO something if you care enough.

Shit or get off the pot at my nan would say.

Personally I couldn't give two shiny shits either way.

My dogs are terrified and so is my dd. It affects dd in particular for days afterwards.

Fireworks should be the organised displays only. The public shouldn't be allowed to buy them.

Wouldn't you complain about selfish people impacting your life and terrifying your kids every year so they can see a few lights in the sky?

Where I live they go off ALL the time, not just this weekend. Zero consideration given for terrified wildlife, family pets, young children trying to sleep, those with ptsd, dementia. The list goes on. Fireworks can be utterly terrifying with no warning. I LOVE fireworks but I can see why people moan if not expected.

I’d happily see a ban for private back garden firework displays.

YABU. I’m sick of the bloody things. They’ve been going off every night here since before Halloween. My dog isn’t overly arsed to be honest but my toddler is terrified by the noise. Can’t get her to sleep, can’t get her to stay asleep.

The sooner they are banned the better. Organised displays only!

YABU. It’s always safest practice for fireworks to handled by experienced users in the correct settings – not in people’s back gardens or in the streets, as is evidenced by the number of firework injuries in the UK each year (in the mid-thousands in some years). That they are allowed to be purchased by almost anyone is piss-poor legislation which has to catch up with itself.

Asking the public to accept firework events on bonfire night is reasonable. Asking that they put up with people randomly setting them off in gardens, parks and the streets, mostly unsafely, on any given day in October or November or Christmas or new years etc, which terrifies pets, the vulnerable, harms wildlife and wakes people up – no.

P.S I don’t have any pets.

I don't know where you all live but we've had hardly any round here and I live in a town. The odd one here and there yes but not excessive. Obviously I imagine there will be more over the coming week but I don't relate to people saying it's constant from Halloween to New Year.

I actually agree OP. It's the time of year, people should be more prepared and I'm saying that as someone who has a dog. I do however think they should be organised displays only and shouldn't be able to be bought by anyone over the counter.

I’m so glad you and your selfish family enjoyed your fireworks.

But there are lots of other living beings who get extremely distressed by fireworks. And yes, animals die every single year due to fireworks.

But you carry on burning your money in the sky and oohing and ahhing at the pretty colours.

Neither my ddog or dcats gave a shit. Previous ddog used to sit at the back door and watch them...

Fireworks were so traumatic for the dogs in my neighbourhood. They were so bloody terrified. I'm completely gone off fireworks now.

Warning should always be given as dogs can run away. I need to keep my dog indoors on new years eve as otherwise the poor thing will take offnin sheer terror and I dont know where he would end up.

Why has she done nothing to prepare for this even though she knows full well it happens around the same time??!!!

Because it's impossible to be prepared for it all day, every day, across the span of 7-10 days. You'd need to be constantly vigilant and on alert which just isn't practical. That's why the polite thing to do, if you insist on fireworks, is to let your neighbours know you'll be setting them off and roughly how long for. That gives them to time to get animals inside, put the radio on to help cover noise, close windows, etc.

The sooner they ban the private sale of fireworks, the better.

I entirely agree with you: fireworks are a magic and completely altruistic thing that people have enjoyed for millennia. People have also had pets for millennia and the two have managed to coexist so I’m not sure why now some people’s nervous dogs are thought to be more important than the millions of people who love fireworks.

The RSPCA have a campaign going about this. They’re asking people to write to their MPs. https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/fireworks

I think fireworks should have a much lower max decibel level & be limited to licenced displays only.

I don't get it. It's the same every year and every year people act surprised and horrified. You have plenty of notice so not sure why you're so shocked

It's interesting that the replies saying you're BU are generally not focusing on the point you actually made, ie about notice.

There are decent arguments in favour of limiting fireworks. But they're seldom made by people who think their decision to get pets, in a society they knew full well had a tradition of fireworks, imposes an obligation on other people who didn't get any choice in the matter.

So pleased you enjoyed yourself.

Pets - many pets are terrified by the sudden explosions and only cope by being drugged.
Horses - have been driven into a flight mode, ending up on major roads. They have been badly burnt by fireworks, regularly after a firework display horses die.
Farm animals - regularly distressed by the explosions. Cows have been know to eat the debris and die.
People - Ex forces suffer from PTSD. The build up of nights after nights of sudden explosions affect their mental health.

But as long as you and your kids had a lovely evening, then fuck everyone else.

Because maybe people are fed up that others don't think they need to just maybe politely mention it to their neighbours? Fireworks go on for up to a week before bonfire night, then a week or more after, then New Year and other celebrations- why is it ok not to consider animals, people with trigger PTSD or other conditions when just a simple courtesy would go quite a way?

My DS is terrified of dogs. Can they be banned please? They are year around too, not just a certain time of year.

Or do we all have to accept that some things might scare our children/pets but it doesn't mean they should be banned?