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??!!!

This, as well as cats shitting in other people's gardens and killing birds and mice etc all year round.

This.

Dogs have become fur babies to some and their needs trump children. They are in restaurants, cafes, pubs, shops, yesterday 2 were barking at each other at a carvery inn. Noisy and smelly after wet walks near people eating. 🤢🤮

.

That's awful, poor baby. Some forgot dogs are animals.

The thing is, it’s not hyperbole. A member of my team took a week off when her hamster died.

God you sound delightful

It’s not just domestic pets, wildlife and livestock are also traumatised by loud fireworks. There are lots of quieter versions that are just as visually impressive, there’s no need to the deafening explosions

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CwGYZSEWv/?mibextid=wwXIfr

perhaps you should talk to the lady whose greyhound dropped dead after having a heart attack due to fireworks?
Or the rescue that lost many guinea pigs due to the noise?

I keep reading that and really don't understand. I had my first dog in 1999 and have always been to dog-friendly places. Pubs, restaurants, cafés, so really I don't get why it seems to be a new thing.

The Netherlands are banning private fireworks for NYE so at least there’s some common sense in the world left.

We know, but this specific thread is about people who want restrictions on fireworks because of the impact on domestic pets. Which are also awful for wildlife and often cause problems for livestock too.

Basically, there are decent arguments to be made for changing the way we do fireworks. But people who want restrictions on fireworks because of their pets don't have the moral standing to make them. And lots of them also apply at least as much to pet ownership and dogs in public, so it's also a be careful what sort of societal conversation you want to open up situation.

I come from a country that banned the sale of fireworks to the public before I was born - I'm 57.

My mother was horrified when we came to the UK in the late 70s that they could be bought and set off by anyone, anywhere - in my country organised displays only and you need a license to be able to buy them.

I live across the road from a large park and every year now, from early October to early January, every evening has the local yobs/teens gathering in it to set fire to bins that they steal from neighbouring houses/blocks of flats, and throw fireworks at each other. Every night the fire department turn out to put the bins out. This sometimes goes on till 3am. I've had to pay for a replacement grey bin 6 years in a row, as the same fire department told my block of flats that we were no longer permitted to store our bins in the designated bin cupboard (fire regulations).

This is all on top of the distress that it causes my two cats. One has a heart murmur, has since he was a kitten, how do you suggest that I tell him to stop having the heart murmur that a big enough fright could make his heart stop?

I do agree, every night both my neighbours let their dogs out at the same time(usually 10pm). They bark at each other for a good 30-60 minutes. I have 2 small kids in bed who fortunately just sleep through it but it's very inconsiderate and annoying. I don't like fireworks personally and do think they should be restricted to licensed events only. But even then, the smoke affects my daughter's asthma so we just stay home with all the windows shut.

I don't think there's a solution that could make everyone in the country happy because there'll always be a reason to be annoyed (like, ok let's switch to soundless ones only but then people with certain health conditions still can't leave the house, so let's cancel it all together etc)

Because it's common courtesy to let people know a date and time - it's not like the people letting the fireworks off don't know that some people and animals will have fearful reactions to them, they're just being selfish fucking twats in not bothering to let people know a date and time so they can arrange to be out of the ir houses with their pets. Or do you think people should be psychic, and somehow divine the exact time and date of the firework display? Or should we leave home from dark til 11pm every evening as a preventative measure because we don't know when fireworks will go off and should therefore assume it's every night? I find it hard to believe you would be quite so stupid about this, so I'm going to assume you're being purposely obtuse.

I agree. I had a dog growing up and it never occurred to me that he would have an issue with fireworks. He didn’t negatively respond to them and liked getting involved! Firstly the noise did not bleed into our house that much, the houses in my parent’s area had decent sized gardens and it was only our back neighbours that would have OTT fireworks. So they were a fair distance away where we mainly just experienced the lights. I suppose my dog never had a bad experience with fireworks, or loud noises, to develop anxiety around them.

Having said that, I do feel like there’s give and take with neighbours - loads of neighbours of dog owners have to deal with dog noise pollution too. The same argument could be said in reverse, that dogs cause anxiety/unbearable noise to others…

They don’t round here.

Oh have we got another plopper who starts a contentious thread resulting in a massive bun fight then never returns. It’s about time Mumsnet did something about these shit stirring time wasters.

I always check whether the OP has returned on this type of thread before even bothering to read it.

I don’t go to pubs but it was definitely far more rare to have dogs in cafes and restaurants in the 90s. I don’t know if they were allowed or not but it wasn’t something I ever saw. Never saw one even on public transport until my late teens. And the first time I personally saw one in a cafe or restaurant must’ve been around 2010.

Tbh not one of my friends who is a dog owner even attempted to take their dogs to any of these kinds of places until the last 15 years or so.

Also I worked in retail from age 16-24 and I never saw a dog in any of the stores I worked in. Not once. Nowadays it’s fairly common to find dogs in clothes stores.

There has been an explosion in dog ownership so even if there were some cafes/shops that allowed dogs in the 90s years, it would of course be far more common now to actually see dogs in those places given the increase in dog ownership. As well as the increase in owners claiming their dog can’t be left at home.

Don’t read it ?

I'm completely with you @Sophiehoney There have been fireworks around the 5th Nov for hundreds of years. And at other occasions for many many years before that.
I agree with another poster above - I can't relate to people saying they have terrified pets for weeks around this time of year. There have been a couple of odd fireworks around here which will no doubt increase this week - but honestly I think it's brilliant, personally I love fireworks.

I am aware that some pets get distressed - but honestly I think it's the owners responsibility to train and care for their pets in such a way that they either get used to the fireworks or keep them indoors and re-assured for the 1st week of Nov and probably 31st Dec.

How convenient

I bloody hate you drop and run posters

They have been around for 100s of years- you’re right. However they are much, much louder now than they were when I was a child. Is that really necessary? My son wet himself in fright one Nov 5th when we were at a display, and refused to go for years afterwards.

Silent fireworks are beautiful.

Meanwhile, since this thread was started another child has been killed by a dog, in Wales. So it might be better all round to ban dogs, in urban settings as a minimum, in the best interests of the welfare of both dogs and people. At the same time we could introduce much stricter licensing and a surcharge on council tax, say 25%, to cover the costs of cleaning up after them and treating the injuries and illnesses caused ;)

I wonder how many have been killed by humans… 😔