To not get the problem with fireworks and pets

[SoldTheMovieRights]

There's fireworks going off next door but one and I can hear them, but just some small popping noises really and barely audible when we had the telly on earlier.

It's never been loud enough to wake or disturb DC.

However, local Facebook group for my village is full of posts complaining about fireworks and how they are traumatising pets. AIBU to not get it? If they are too quiet to disturb people why are they so bad for dogs (who would all be inside in the evening anyway?)?

Lots of people wanting them banned because of their dogs but I just don't get it, at worst it's a few mins of noise, a few nights a year, is it really that awful?

I have zero skin in the game as could never be bothered to do fireworks myself, but if my neighbours fancy it, crack on, I'll enjoy the show.

What don’t you get? Fireworks frighten some animals. Their owners don’t like that. That’s all there is to it really.

I’ve owned 5 others in the past and they were the same all unbothered.

We live in a city centre and they’ve been going off all evening and are still going.

Fortunately our cats have become less bothered the older they’ve got - they were terrified 10 years ago but barely notice now.

They have been really loud here, and it’s not direct neighbours, but still loud enough to wake the kids!

Absolutely fucking bonkers post. You really don't understand how animals don't like the sounds of explosions? And not be terrified? You and I have the luxury of actually knowing what they are. Animals don't.

They started at about 7pm where I am and only just stopped now.
Our dog curls up frozen in fear on the ground or tries to bolt when he’s outside and hears one. I haven’t been able to get him out for a toilet break because he’s too scared.

It really winds me up when people say things like well, my pets are fine, or why don’t you train them.

This.

My poor dog has been so upset since about 7pm this evening.

Afraid to bring dog upstairs as the barking will wake others, so sleeping downstairs with the dog to try to provide some comfort and security to her.

Well that definitely proves it then - that’s 10 isn’t it

I have an amazing view of the city of Leeds from where I live. Watching the fireworks across the city at New Year is very impressive. Droves of people stand by my house to watch them as it’s a view point.

It really is something to behold. One of my dogs and my cat are super scared though, so it’s a bit of a dampener.

Never thought about showing them the source to help them understand that there’s no threat.

It’s been going on for an hour now, which is ludicrous really. Must have cost a fortune

My new horse arrived today. Our yard is between two pubs both with fireworks and although we're barn style stabling and the horses on the whole never seem to be bothered in their stables previously, I'll admit I've stressed tonight sat at home wondering if he will be okay, he seems quite stressy in his stable anyway, weaving/box walking. Sure its just a settling in thing, I can't begin to imagine the upheaval of moving to somewhere you don't know with people you don't know, with your whole life turned upside down.

Previous horses I've owned settled in immediately so I'm worried. Will find out at 6am tomorrow but wondering what I'll walk into. If I'd have been there he'd have got zero reassurance from me anyway as he barely knows who I am at the moment.

Our last cat used to break my heart with fireworks - she was so, so frightened. Likewise loud noises like a smoke alarm or even the doorbell. No idea why, she had been a family pet since she was a kitten, but it was so distressing for her and for us on firework nights. I spent many years lying on floors singing to her with white noise playing in the background while she cried and shook.

We sadly had to have her pts a couple of years ago and I honestly thank god our now cat isn’t fussed at all. He was a stray kitten/cat and eventually taken indoors when he was ten months old - we adopted him when he was just past one and would have had his first 5 November outdoors.

Fireworks started about 6pm here 😬

Thing is - if it didn’t bother wildlife/pets/people then WHY would we ‘create a fuss’. Seriously. What’s in it for the people who want them banned? Fun police?

if they were fine then why wouldn’t we just crack on and ignore them?

Perhaps city centre means fewer residents and no gardens. Here in the inner suburbs and estates it's extremely noisy. Earlier I drove past an impromptu display set up on the pavement outside a high-street bar, which was quite scary, and down a main road with so many large explosions that visibility was impaired. While your near-neighbour's fireworks were quiet, my street's multiple outdoor pyrotechnics were noisy and prolonged.

Lots of posters on this thread are mentioning disturbed DC too, which is why that's relevant.

I've been campaigning against them for years due to the scientific evidence showing they cause harm to animals including pets and wildlife. It's very well documented by animal welfare organisations. Google would have told you this in two seconds.

Dogs have much better hearing than humans. What are pops to us will be much louder to them

but it’s not just dogs, it’s all the wildlife, the cattle, the horses, then there is the rubbish to put up with that won’t be collected and again could harm wildlife

Well I’m here in Ireland where it illegal to buy fireworks… and they are still going. But it is less around new year. Halloween would be the most for us…from September onwards. On new year they are over within the hour.

My current cat is scared of fireworks & flinches every your she hears one despite being in the house. My previous cat used to be absolutely terrified & would spend 3-4 days hiding under a bed only venturing out for food when the
Fireworks stopped for the night & everything I tried was to no avail.

Animals hearing is more acute than humans. They also don't know what the noise is. Thankfully my dog isn't arsed by fireworks and I live in a rural village so not one firework was set off tonight. Been on the phone with a friend from Brum this eve though and he has had to try and mask the noise for his cat. Apparently it's relentless there.

ODFOD. Do you live in an actual cave? Yes, when I was small, it was a few sparklers, some traffic lights and Catherine wheels. Nice and innocuous.
Now, it’s defcon 3 bombs going off, they shake the bloody house! And until you’ve dealt with a rescue dog that is shaking and wetting itself and biting itself in fear, then frankly, shut up. If they’ve recently arrived, you don’t always have time to “desensitise” them!
This is one of the many reasons I’ve recently moved to the middle of nowhere. Decades of trying to settle dogs on NYE all gone because tonight there were none. Lovely.
Not to mention the sheer stupidity of selling explosives to the general public 🤦‍♀️

Wildlife is more harmed by cats and dogs than by fireworks.

Dogs’ barking causes more people more misery all year round than the sound of fireworks.

Dogs scare, injure and kill more people every year than fireworks do.

The amount of public nuisance - including shit everywhere - caused by dogs and cats is way greater than that caused by fireworks.

Been going on here since 6pm and they are loud. Poor dog is very distressed. There are still odd ones going bang now.

Where we are in London we get an amazing view of the fireworks but it does sound like war has been declared from about 2330 on NYE until about 0030 on NY Day. Our cats couldn’t give a shit, they both slept through tonight’s right royal racket, but I do think of the poor birds in their nests and the deer in the nearby deer park being frightened. To them it really must sound like the end of the world for that hour. Other times of the year (Guy Fawkes Night, Diwali) can get loud, but that hour into the new year is absolutely insane.

It’s such a worry with a new horse and they do take time to settle. Mine are all TB and it’s safer to turn them out than have them stressed in the stables when I know fireworks are likely. We live on a farm and I watched them earlier in the field, they’re settled now and back in their stables but still jittery.

If you don’t mind let me know how the newbie is, I hope they’re ok 💐