Once again, here in the UK, we have Bonfire Night. I have two German Shepherds, that are normally rock solid, cowering under my desk.I am not against Bonfire Night, but why do out pets have to suffer it for so long. Because the actual date is mid week, we will have to put up with it from this weekend until next. I really think it is time to ban the public sale of fireworks, and restrict their use to organized displays, which should take place in venues away from where people live.

I just looked at my watch, 6.27pm, there is a large organised one fairly close to here starting in about half an hour. I think my cat is getting hard of hearing so it might not bother him too much.

I would tend to agree with you RMG.
In my part of UK we have fireworks going off from halloween onwards.
As I sit here typing this at 6.30pm UK time, I can hear continuous explosions, and will no doubt hear them until gone 11pm tonight. I can also hear next doors little dog going crazy ...........

I totally support your comment about BANNING the sale of fireworks to the public, and only allowing the sale to LICENSED organisations - who would have to pass rigourous examination by the Fire Brigade, and/or the Police.

I completely agree with RMG too, about the controlling of fireworks, and sale only to organised groups. one problem we have round here, though, is that the councils have decided that they can't afford organised displays,so they have left it to everyone to sort themselves out. Previously we have had displays organised by the Round Table or other such groups, but the council have now withdrawn permission for any such displays. So now we have everyone attempting to buy the largest firework they can find. At times the noise is horrific and I'm sure an artillery barrage would be quieter.

Sorry people - but I *love* fireworks and have £30 worth to set off on the 5th (the proper night!). What I would support is a ban on bangers! I can't see any point to them apart to scare people. I might even support a ban on all noisy fireworks (though I must admit to a sneaking love for rockets and I think - I'm not a pyroexpert - they've got to go bang). In the firework shop I go to they have a selection box of 'no bang' fireworks and for the sake of the animals I'd support them. Sorry again, but I really love 'em and am looking forward to going 'Ooh' on Monday!

Here's a quote from the South Wales Fire and Rescue service, supporting ORGANISED fireworks displays.

"As November 5th draws closer, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is urging the public to stay safe and attend organised firework displays. Statistics show, that although injuries in 2005 decreased slightly compared to 2004, people are still being injured or even killed by fireworks. In 2005, 990 people were injured and two were killed by fireworks. The highest number of injuries – 475 – occurred at smaller family or private firework events.
Most injuries caused by fireworks are to children under the age of 16. Fire crews are stressing to youngsters that fireworks are mini-explosives dressed up in colourful packaging - they are not toys. They burn at high temperatures and can cause terrible injuries very quickly, including sparklers, which can reach 2,000°C - more than 15 times the boiling point of water. Rockets can reach 150 miles an hour and are the most common cause of firework injuries."


"Every year, crews from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spend a great deal of time responding to calls caused by the misuse of fireworks, and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured”, said Brian Fraser, Chief Fire Officer at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. "

Fine. I'm not a child - there'll be no children there. I'm not going to misuse fireworks. I bet a lot more than two people die every day from the misuse of drugs, alcohol and motor vehicles. I'm sorry, but just becasue some people are idiots - I object to being treated like one!

I live in South Africa and we celebrate November 5th. South Africans tend to celebrate most things except American holidays. More than a few times each year there are fireworks being set off and loud bangs can be heard in the area. 4 years ago I started sedating my cats on the nights when I knew to expect fireworks right now my cats are all asleep in various parts of the house and will wake up in a few hours with no terrified responses to loud noises. We do have a few bans in this country on where you can set off fireworks but no one seems to obey them. I don't mind people setting off fireworks I just wish they'd consider that they are doing it in an area that has animals and small children.

Sounds like the laws are quite different between here and there - although you can buy small "family fireworks" here, you need permission from various bodies such as the fire department before you can set them off. You really don't see a lot of private fireworks, certainly not in town. People will set them off on their own land, out in the country, without too much interference, but that's it.

I wonder if the fact that we have a semi arid climate has something to do with this?

Fireworks are banned here because of the fire risk. In November, it's summer and everything is dry.

We used to celebrate Guy Fawkes' with fireworks when I was a child and it was still legal. I do miss it a little.

However, I also have a dog who hates loud noises and cowers and trembles when people do occasionally let off crackers over here. He does the same during thunderstorms.

When we were in Holland, they let off firecrackers on New Year's Eve, but you were only allowed to do so between certain hours.

I think a compromise would be a good solution to the problem. It would be easier to live with if you could only have them on the actual day (Nov 5) and between certain hours.

I don't think they even sell fireworks to the public in Adelaide. I havn't seen any shops anyway. Also fireworks are only set off in organized displays such as fetes and things like that.

I know quite a few people who would be able to make their own though, strange boys that they are.

They have recently restricted the hours you can let fireworks off here in the UK. Though, I do love watching fireworks.

Fireworks are banned in NSW except for public displays. Personally I loathe them. We had devastating fires here a few Christmases ago with people losing everything.

Nevertheless New Year's Eve that year produced a massive fireworks display costing well over $2 million dollars. The irony of so much money going up in smoke in just a few short minutes while people picked over their charred house remains seemed to be lost on most.

I was given some bangers a few years ago by a mate that purchased them in Canberra and had no inclination to use them. One evening about a year ago the little beggars,well not so little they were about 18 or so, next door started letting off crackers in the middle of the street. They were not noisy crackers but it annoyed me greatly so I grabbed one of my bangers and crept (ok so I`m sneaky at times) out to behind my car and lit and threw the banger so it would explode high above their heads. It did and what a loud sound it made,so loud in fact that their father came out and started screaming at them,shame he didn`t stop them using the crackers before,the teens protested their innocence but to no avail,they started blaming each other and that went on for a while inside the house where the father ordered them all.

I laughed,naughty Roos, for ages about that. I have no interest in crackers but they can be handy sometimes.

Hi
Here in Australia we also used to have "cracker night". Well, anyway we moved it to the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend & every year while I was growing up the Saturday night of the June long weekend for the Queens birthday was cracker night. Gee, you could buy any type of firework from Woollies & your local newsagent. Anyway that was the ONLY time fireworks could be purchased each year. Yes some letter boxes were targeted, so we all made a mess but we also cleaned it all up...the whole entire street willingly took away any un-exploded 'bungers'. I am not sure what your local kiddies are doing but I would hope they are as well supervised as we all were. But none the less ALL FIREWORKS in any shape or form are totally prohibited in Sydney these days. So do you all have fire crackers going off all the time? Why are your animals so upset? On Cracker Night We put the cats in my Nan's room & the dogs in the chook house just for the night. anyway I'd love local fireworks not the usual mega Sydney stuff. You all take care of your animals.

What is a "banger"?
Is it what we in Australia call
"bungers"? ie a tightled rolled parer device filled with "gunpowder" with a short wick you light....then you toss it...then it goeS ...BOOM.

"Yes some letter boxes were targeted, so we all made a mess but we also cleaned it all up"

Are you suggesting that you put fireworks through peoples letterboxes ??????
If that is the case, then you and your friends were TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE, and are VERY lucky you are not in prison on a charge of criminal damage, arson, or even MANSLAUGHTER !

"I am not sure what your local kiddies are doing but I would hope they are as well supervised as we all were"

You call that being supervised ???? !!!

As criminal as it sounds (and is) the blowing up of letterboxes was a wide spread thing in Sydney. The adults in our street,and most streets probably, used to be especially vigilant around cracker night here making sure no-one blew up their letterbox.

Yes Kasbone as I`m a Sydney-sider myself I should have typed bunger.

Please define letterbox. What we Brits think of as a letterbox might not be the same as in Australia and other countries.

Generally speaking, for a Brit, a letterbox is a flapped slot in the door of a house or apartment. If someone put a lit firework through the letterbox it is likely to set the house/apartment on fire.

A letterbox in Australia is generally a stand alone box on a post that is near the roadway,but still on your property. The letterbox is a couple of metres from the road but also a number of metres from the house.

I think we would probably call that a mailbox here? You don't see them very often in the UK.

I thought that might be the case, so not a question of possibly burning down a house.

Forgive my previous emotive post - as a Brit, I assumed "letterbox" to be as Sue described.

The thought of anyone putting a firework through somebodys letterbox, infuriated me, and I am sure everyone would agree that it would be a most stupid, and dangerous thing to do.

I like professional fireworks but wouldn't want to do it myself, mostly because I'm too cheap to spend so much money on the really good ones. Also, there seem to be more and more restrictions each year.

Our previous dog used to be a nervous wreck around Halloween, not only from the fireworks but also from all the kids coming to the door. Now we have a lab cross and his only worry around Halloween is how to steal candies without getting caught. When he was very little we had a thunder storm. He started to whimper but I totally ignored the noise and went about my business. He's never been bothered by thunder or loud noises since. I don't know though if there's a genetic component - can you breed dogs to be gun dogs, because he's part hunting lab?