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??!!!

It’s not just pets it affects wildlife and farm animals.
Fireworks should be limited to town-centre displays, so everyone knows in advance where they will happen and impact on animals and the vulnerable can be minimised / mitigated.

How emphatic of you!

Just cos you don’t have animals or children that are scared of them you slate someone that does.

for years before I had animals scared of them I’ve wanted them banned to the public. They should only be allowed at large licensed events on set dates.

I actually love fireworks, and my indoor cat is totally unbothered.

I still think they should be much more heavily regulated and controlled, and only available for supervised and licensed displays.

It’s not unreasonable to think that expensive, dangerous things that have an impact on our public spaces shouldn’t just be a free for all.
It wouldn’t bother me personally if drones were allowed to go around peering into people’s gardens; but I still think they ought to be regulated so they can’t. Ditto loud music from events or festivals; or light / noise pollution. I might not care personally, but I still think others (and animal life too) should have their space collectively respected!

If we’re banning fireworks, can we ban wood burning stoves and open fires as well please? The odd loud firework is much better than the relentless fumes from neighbours wood burning stoves. If people are going to set fire to stuff in close proximity to my house, I’d rather it had a joyful flash of colour and was over in minutes.

I used to agree with you, OP. However, since having kids and seeing my autistic 6 year old screaming in terror every night for 2-3 weeks, only sleeping when she crashes out from exhaustion, and then during the day going into a full-on meltdown every time there's any loud noise at all, I feel quite embarrassed at my previous view. I don't know why I assumed people must be exaggerating their complaints or failing to properly prepare vulnerable dependents; I was completely wrong.

Councils won't want to pay for town centre displays. In theory, I do agree with planned displays only but in reality, they won't happen due to councils not wanting to fund them and plenty of people would continue to buy fireworks illegally so I don't think much would actually change.

If fireworks are so important to people they can go to a proper display away from others can't they? No one needs to set them off in their back garden.

How do you prepare wild animals and horses?

How refreshing it is it see so many comments on here talking about the need for greater tolerance all round. Life is not black and white, nor does one viewpoint trump another. It's about being polite and negotiating with one another. Sadly if people are too aggressive or judgemental in their stance online, people will be less likely to engage with them. For example, instead of shouting people down, labelling them as selfish and demanding a ban, they could politely ask that people only release them on a set number of days between certain hours or ask that people stick to quieter ones. That is far more likely to get better results.

I hope one day that public drone displays will be affordable

So much better

It’s a free country and not illegal

My friend has posted a link from her friend whose horse was startled when a random firework went off about 2 weeks. He stumbled and hurt himself but thankfully appeared to survive it until she cge ked on him earlier this week and found ge had died over night. Absolutely awful, no reason other than shock.
Our dog won't go out once it's dark because of the arseholes setting them off randomly. He literally trembles when he hears the first one. Last night we had 2 quite local displays but we KNEW about them. I was able to sort him, get our routine in place and him settled before they began.
I would love personal displays to be banned, several countries already do this, but in the current situation all we really want is consideration for those nearby( and not to last a bloody month!)

Fireworks terrify pets and they terrify many people aswell especially people with trauma. I live in a housing estate where people just let them off and nobody is told about it.

Wood burners and open fires should absolutely be banned, the air pollution they cause is horrific.

Fireworks can stay if they don’t make a noise and are available on the day of the celebration only.

People who don’t like animals/don’t care about their welfare should be treated with caution.

I agree with the majority of PPs that fireworks should be heavily restricted to public displays on very limited dates only (5th November, NYE, Diwali, Chinese New Year etc) and they should all be silent or very quiet - the louder fireworks should be banned.

I actually love watching fireworks, but only ever go to organised displays - I wouldn't set off fireworks in my garden because it's antisocial and not fair on neighbours (including young children and other vulnerable people eg with learning disabilities, dementia, PTSD etc) or animals (pets and wildlife).

In my city there has always been a big display on 5th November but this year they changed the date so it would be at the weekend. I think it's a huge shame but won't be doing fireworks myself that evening; instead we will do a small bonfire (and roast marshmallows) and I have got some sparklers too but nothing that will make a noise or a mess.

The problem is that people can buy fireworks so easily so they use them whenever they want. It's not ok. As many PPs have pointed out, you can plan ahead for expected dates like 5/11 or 31/12, but it's the random days and the long drawn out periods that are a real nightmare for animals and people who get seriously distressed.

I don't really like dogs but I can still feel compassion for their distress; it has also been heartbreaking to read about distressed horses and other animals - and the poor red pandas too :(

@Sophiehoney tomorrow can you wear a clear sign telling people around you to make sudden loud noises/ bangs/ clashes of metallic objects near you when you won’t expect it? Wear it and have sudden, unexpected, frightening noises for at least 3 hours, preferably from people you don’t know. Then come back here and report how it felt.
Remember you have to do this a few times a year. And don’t complain, that’d be hypocritical.

Because they are much bigger and louder now and back then it was for fireworks night and that was it. I witnessed a young teenager dragged into the road by a terrified dog as she was out walking at 4pm in September due to fireworks! how can you prepare for that? A licensed display allows the enjoyment of fireworks and the safety of those who are affected by them

My cats have been terrified this year, all older than 5 years old, and none have previously been too fussed, they all seem so much louder this year.

I dont want people to stop having fun, but its horrible watching your pets be terrified for 15 minutes of fun.

This.

V sorry I’ve nrtft but someone should invent ear plugs or soundproof ear muffs for cats and dogs.

It’d be odd for her to complain about fireworks at a different time of year, when there aren’t any fireworks, don’t you think?

How do you propose she prepares for stopping her animals being scared by the loud fireworks?

I’ve got a dog and it’s bloody annoying, fireworks going off at random times for days on end.

Or silent fireworks… oh, wait!

Wonder if you live where I live. Fireworks go off constantly all year these days for various celebrations. We have signed petition after petition. Raised with our councillors and local MP, but nothing done about it. Until very recently when we have had one of our councillors now advocating to bring down the decibels in fireworks, so that it is illegal for fireworks sold or used to be above a certain decibel. So we shall see……

Ok @Sophiehoney .
I’ll just drug my daughter, husband and pets every night for two weeks!
How stupid I must be not to prepare for that!
Remind me to tell all the horses around where I live that they need to prepare, not to be scared and not to snap any bones when they are terrified.
You are nasty.

Soundproof room in every home?