A Dumfries dog owner has hit out at yobs who set off fireworks just yards away from her and her two pets.
Megan Chesney was out with mixed breed huskies Mina and Tikaanni on Saturday night around the old Max High School pitches when the pyrotechnics were set off by a group of laughing youths.
The dogs bolted in fright which left Megan scrambling to find them.
She is campaigning for silent fireworks…which is fair enough, but I really want to see fireworks banned altogether. Silent ones won’t appeal to the “laughing youths” who think its fun to set them off near dog walkers!
I think stopping the ability for sellers to set up shops for a few weeks & then disappear would make a difference too. As would making shops keep a record of whom they have sold to & making the purchaser legally liable for what happens with those fireworks.
A friend lost his cat after some yob threw a firework into his garden. It landed near the cat which then ran off, never to return.
Something else which may help with yobs who intentionally scare animals or people with fireworks is what happened close to where I used to live. The yobs responsible were spoken to by a few concerned locals, who demonstrated why talking to someone when no witnesses were around was far more effective, than throwing fireworks about, when witnesses were. After the friendly & constructive chat, the yobs reported themselves to the police.
Fireworks without a permit have been banned in NSW since the mid 1980s, my kids never knew them and don’t miss them. I much prefer the organised displays they are much better and bigger than you afford yourself anyway.
Occasionally you get kids let off some bangers they bought in the ACT but that is about it.
There has been campaign after campaign, year after year, to get the sale of fireworks banned to the general public. It seems that every year someone starts a petition on Change.org or similar, and they get tens of thousands of signatures. But do the government take any notice? No, they do not. Probably got chums in the fireworks industry
Years ago when i used to ride alot, some of us rented a field from a farmer in the village to keep our horses in.
Every year the fireworks were a worry because there was a public footpath running through the field so you could not stop people going in.
One hear we heard there were some yobs trying to tie fireworks to some horses tails in nearby villages, so that was an even bigger worry.
I daren’t shut them in because they would have been sitting ducks if they couldnt even run away if they needed to.
I entirely agree with others who say public displays only.
No idea, Muddy. Trauma? Something amiss in their wiring? I know its becoming more and more common. Even last night, fireworks were going off in the street, next to cars and people going about their business. I know that if anything like this happened to me and my dog, I would retaliate.
I understand that fireworks can be fun for a child but I believe that if you want your kids to see such fun why not take them to an organized bonfire party where there are police, ambulance and they start at a reasonable time and end before 10pm.
Selling fireworks in shops should be banned, no matter how old the purchaser is, as it is frequently young teenagers who cause the problems.
Two of my cats are kept inside every night & I will make every effort to keep the 2 strays in, but some idiots think it is ok to let off fireworks anytime for birthday celebrations , new year & any time between late October & early November.
Even indoors my cats are frightened, especially the one who has asthma, but I also wonder how many new mothers have difficulty with crying babies that wake, owing to the very noisy fireworks that are available.
You may all be right in saying we should totally ban fireworks completely!
Some daftie setting of fireworks last night 7pm ish luckily my dogs are gun dogs so doesn’t bother them however seen what it can do to pets really needs licence introducing for purchase of fireworks
