Queens Birthday Long Weekend, Fireworks and Pets

Unfortunately with the amount of illegal fireworks being sold, I think that cats and Dogs being frightened by fireworks in the ACT will just increase.

The majority of illegal fireworks being sold are not imported by the licensed fireworks sellers, but by people who see it as a great way to make excellent money (the markup is higher than most drugs if you sell illegally, around 3000%).

The legal ACT fireworks do make a reasonable amount of noise, but they contain almost no flash powder (the ingredient that makes the loud bangs in crackers and report items). The rules and regulations involving getting fireworks passed by the ACT government are very restrictive to try to make a compromise between fireworks people want to buy, and the safety/noise/size limits that the government feels they need to restrict the general public with. The ACT is only allowed 60g maximum powder weight for any item (as apposed to the NT which is 100g). This drastically limits how good a firework effect can be, and although good items can still be made within this powderweight, the manufacture rocess is extremely expensive involving much higher quality (read expensive) chemical compositions that make these items too expensive for the average consumer.

It is cheaper for the Chinese to make larger fireworks (500g+ powder weights) as their domestic market, and the US market, already has a huge demand for this product so the production lines are longer.
The demand in the ACT (and the NT) is huge for illegal fireworks. People are not happy with what they can buy, they want bigger items but we cannot supply them legally. As a supplier of legal fireworks to the Australian market, I know how much money could be made if we would sell illegal fireworks instead of legal ones. The markups are 300 times larger and they are easier to sell. We have chosen NOT to sell illegal fireworks as we feel that not only is it illegal and inethical, in the long run it will result in ALL fireworks being banned, everywhere.

Huge pressure is aplied to the ACT and NT government by NSW and Victoria who get huge influxes of illegal fireworks purchased legally in the NT and ACT crossing their borders and being set off randomly all year round.

As a pet owner, this is a lot more concerning than 1,2, or even 10 legal fireworks days. At least you know when they are going to happen (mostly) and can plan to have your pet kept in a quiet room where the stress will at least be reduced.

Don’t ban fireworks, it will just increase the illegal market as people see they have nothing to lose by selling (it is almost impossible to police).
If people want to continue to have access to retail fireworks they need to take responsibility for the problems by not buying illegals (no matter how tempting they are), and sticking to the guidelines. Be grateful that you have that. It wont be for long.

Mark
http://www.sunsetfireworks.com.au/fireworks-sales-buy-fireworks.html

PeterH has one of those cars that looks after itself! That’s classic, nice one!

Interesting GI stuff Danman. Interestingy, the yanks haven’t got a clue about GI, they’re still on fat vs carbs. And about alcamahol not being fattening, I guess look at those old street guys with their brown paper bags, definitely not fat.

1812 overture with cannons, I like

ok….

the weekend was like this:

2am on Saturday morning, sound not unlike someone re-modeling their backyard – 3 seriously large bangs. shook windows, woke up kids. great.

Saturday night – here we are in downtown baghdad, rockets and mortars going off everywhere, croatian neighbor certainly under bed about now, waiting for the all clear…. some very large ones going off, sky lit by lots of flashes, guy up the road trying to remove large stump, perhaps??

Sunday morning – went to christening for my sons at 6 am, not happy about last night’s bombardment, neither were they. went to weston to collect food for daughter’s party, 2 louts in a p-plate barina lob homemade bomb at my car, which retaliates by knocking it back to them. hmmm. car plays handball. bomb lands on their bonnet and detonates. cracked windscreen, lot of smoke. guy behind me can’t stop laughing, neither can I. have to pull over.

Sunday night – invited to cracker party at neighbor’s house. ok – several too loud for our daughter, she sits inside and watches – probably smarter than me. one errant rocket skews back under the cover that we are standing in, detonates right beside me. flashing lights and muffled noises – realise it is my wife screaming at me to see if i am OK. I am, bit deaf though.

Sunday night / monday morning – whoever is trying to remove stump hasn’t given up, blowing up more things in their backyard, maybe trying to save money and excavate a pool? barrage ends at 3am.

Monday morning. Lug out large stereo speakers, all 4 of them, and play my CD for mornings like this, 1812 overture (with cannon). Trained kids to sleep through it, so they are OK.

next door neighbor does likewise.

young guys who had the party last night want us to turn it down. It is after 10.00 am, so we refuse. (they kept going after noise curfew till 4am, not to be outdone by crackers)

Monday night – not a single blast to be heard.

hope y’all can read that.

Corn is High GI (Glycaemic Index) which means the carbs in it get turned into sugar in teh form of glucose in you rblood quite quickly.
Because there is too much sugar in your blood, your body moves it from your blood into storage cells or what we like to call “Fat”

The interesting thing about glycaemic index and beer/alcohol is that (My Doctor told me this) when you drink beer, or any other alcohol for that matter, the alcohol content of the beverage switches off your liver, which is responsible for the production of blood borne glucose. Because this body fucntion is switched off, your blood glucose levels would normally bomb because in effectyou are burning energy but your liver is not producing any to replace it, so in fact the sugar in the beverages is what supplies the energy for the night. So what actually happens is that your blood glucose levels are switched off by the alcohol content of the bevrage but you do not go into a hypoglycaemic coma because the carb content of the beverages keep you energied up..

I tested this theory ponm a bender recently, I took my blood sugar level before the bemder and it was average (6.1mmol) (Average being between 4 and 8 mmol) – went out on the bender and when I got home I was on the high end of average (7.4mmol).

As a result I was able to deduce that drinking actually does no tmake you fat because you burn the energy prodiced in each beverage because you rbody has no function to produce its own enegry whilst intoxicated/under influence of alcohol – besides whoich all teh acrbs in alcoholic beverages are short chain carbohydrates, so they burn up quickly in the body. The reason you get fat from excessive drinking is because excessive drinking is closely associated with excessive eating. This all came to ligh tbecause th emeds I am on actually lower blood sugar levels, hence my GP warning me about the effects that excessinve drinking may have whilst on the meds.

How do I know so much about blood sugar ?
I am a well educated T2 diabetic.

Oh yeah fireworks, I have 2 dogs, we had downtown beirut in our suburb over all 4 nights. Dogs were a little skittish, but nothing a caring owner could not fix.

Someone_else said :

And please explain why corn is fattening. I want sources, dammit!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup – google 0.13 seconds. I’m not so lenient to newbie posters on second occasions.

Its okay, if Barr has his way this may be the last Queen’s Birthday Fireworks…

Next year, it might be the “Children’s Awareness Day” fireworks.

Things going ‘bang’ well into the night near my house.
Dog inside.
Still disturbed by it all.
RSPCA (or was it domesttic Animal services) said that over 100 dogs were collected over the weekend.
Can’t wait for the fireworks to be banned.

I wonder if their parents know they’re out, blowing the cr@p out of Belconnen? Hmmm. maybe they ARE parents.

I saw some more crackers going off tonight, but since they’re illegal here any time, it’s no biggie. The owner of a big ACT crackery used to live down the road, it would get interesting when he was testing a new batch of crackers. He got into trouble from the airport for testing some at his HQ in Fyshwick, so the next night he had them going at his place… very eerie things. Laser crackers with weird effects in teh air.

Jesus, It’s 9:36pm, I’m in Belconnen, and there was just an explosion that sounded to be a fair distance away, that shook everything in the house, ironing board, television – even the picture frames made a noise. Clearly an illegal explosive, there been a few stories plus big detonations like that one, that make me think this will probably be the last cracker night, which sucks for people like me who delight in showing my son colourful crackers during legal times. Here’s hoping that last bang was just let off on an oval and caused no damage.

Do you mean like this?

Go to My RiotAct
Go to Edit my profile
Change the bit where it says “Nickname”
Then, you’ll notice this new nickname doesn’t appear in the “display name publicly as” drop-down box yet. Don’t worry, just hit the SAVE PROFILE button at bottom of screen
Then go back into edit profile, and your new username will mysteriously appear in the “display publicly” drop-down box. You then select it, and Save Profile again. Voila. I think it’s a glitch. Remember, you can do this to change yourself from nyssa to whatever, but people don’t usually change their name much, unless they want to avoid being detected for whatever reason, hence, lawnmower for me today.

My therapist told me that corn was fattening. Would you like his number?

My lawnmower is female (very temperamental), so yes, it was fun, thanks.

And please explain why corn is fattening. I want sources, dammit!

So why the hell when I went into my profile it didn’t allow me to do that, oh wonderous fount of knowledge also known as lawnmower?

Enjoy having sex with your lawnmower.

Someone_else said :

No, you are just reading way too much into things and taking offence for no good reason. It’s time to calm down now.

Yes Nyssa. You know? You didn’t have to create a new username (2 posts I see), to create as “someone else”. You can just go to your nyssa profile (the one with 16 or 17 posts), change your nickname and voila!

Did you know that corn can be somewhat fattening?

That sentence had absolutely nothing to do with your quote above, but I just thought I’d say it for the fun of it.

Now if you don’t mind, I have some lawnmower maintenance to do in the garage.

No, you are just reading way too much into things and taking offence for no good reason. It’s time to calm down now.

@nyssa, you seem to be confused about when you should or should not use quotes. The general understanding amongst forum users worldwide is, if you quote someone, the comment that follows the quote usually relates to the preceding quote. In your case, it seems that is not the case. Ditzy much nyssa?

Lawnmower said :

Not sure why, but my lawn looked like the size of the local oval this morning, it’s took ages to get through it …

Love Ya Work !

nyssa76 said :

nyssa, i’ve been here for years. It’s always been my nick lol.

Short for my real name and my fav Dr Who Character.

Well, I’ve only just arrived on this website, so I’m not familiar with all the regulars! Forgive my mis-appropriation of your name, I will be changing it…

Lawnmower said :

nyssa said :

Lawnmower – no, my sarcastic comment wasn’t directed at you, but at those who say that fireworks are “all about the kiddies having fun”!

Oh, I see. Then why quote me? Forgive me for thinking the comment was directed at me, and not all those people you didn’t quote.

Are you just looking to be offended or something?

nyssa said :

Lawnmower – no, my sarcastic comment wasn’t directed at you, but at those who say that fireworks are “all about the kiddies having fun”!

Oh, I see. Then why quote me? Forgive me for thinking the comment was directed at me, and not all those people you didn’t quote.

PS – Welcome back nyssa(76).

nyssa, i’ve been here for years. It’s always been my nick lol.

Short for my real name and my fav Dr Who Character.

Lawnmower – no, my sarcastic comment wasn’t directed at you, but at those who say that fireworks are “all about the kiddies having fun”!

Nyssa76 – I didn’t realise there was another nyssa…I think I may have to change my ID!!

Nicely done, Lawnmower – Sounds like it would’ve been an ideal time to test a masonry saw on some larger chunks of concrete to make sure it was functioning at peak performance.

ant said :

…@ Lawnmower… and I imagine you needed to have the throttle on “full” for the duration? what about whippersnippering, did you remember to attend to all thsoe messy bits? You probably needed to be listening to 2CA very loudly when the mower wasn’t going, too…

Correct. Full throttle, but the whippersnipper carked it a while back (drats). 2CA is usually the station of choice, but I opted for something more annoying to this particular neighbour. Italian opera CD. Soprano. Only drawback? Kids gotta get McDonald’s twice this month instead of the usual once (they were awake early, but tortured by the music too).

nyssa – Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, supportive or what, but my kids are pretty young, so 11.45pm was about 4 hours into their sleep. Fyi, we didn’t buy fireworks and we love our animals.

nyssa76 – thank you

ps I really don’t have much of a lawn, but this morning it was lush.

OMG, it’s the anti-nyssa!

Lawnmower – well done

…@ Lawnmower… and I imagine you needed to have the throttle on “full” for the duration? what about whippersnippering, did you remember to attend to all thsoe messy bits? You probably needed to be listening to 2CA very loudly when the mower wasn’t going, too…

Lawnmower said :

to my w@nker neighbour who managed to wake up my kids with fireworks at the back fence at around 11.45pm last night, I hope you enjoyed your sleep-in this morning.

Aww, but I thought the kiddies LUVVED the crackers?!?! Isn’t it all for them after all? I mean, who cares if animals get freaked out, get run over and our open spaces are littered with garbage? We have to keep the pweshus children happy!!

to my w@nker neighbour who managed to wake up my kids with fireworks at the back fence at around 11.45pm last night, I hope you enjoyed your sleep-in this morning.

Not sure why, but my lawn looked like the size of the local oval this morning, it’s took ages to get through it …

H’s corgi for Chief Minister! (I hope those architraves tasted good).

ellingly said :

We even have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, hardly the bravest of all dogs, and he just didn’t give two hoots about it. Well, he did have a couple of quick woofs on Friday night, but we made absolutely zero fuss over it and he shut up when he figured out we weren’t going to stop them.

You are just bragging that your dog is smarter than my dog!!!

I have the cutest widlle blue merle cardigan corgi with the most stunning bue eyes and the cutest ears and no brain in between those ears. She is still farting and barking. She shat on my bedroom floor about an hour ago.

I love having some crackers for my kids. The kids love it too. What I do not love are the drunken wankers who ignore the law.

You think it’s safe for your dog to go outside for a wee because it is 10.00pm and then some ARSEHOLE explodes a hybrid cracker bomb and the dog shits itself.

CanberraResident said :

Eh, I wonder how many Republicans actually buy and let off fireworks. Hippocritters.

Oh you don’t have any /embarassed/ emoticon smiley thingies.

I followed the law of the Territory though! I even put my farting dog in the bathroom with bones to eat and treats when we blew up our chinese gunpowder sticks. In the bathroom the dog was, where she proceeded to eat the architraves. She has been sleeping and eating and peeing and shitting and farting right by my side for the last 3.5 days. I would just like to pinch the cheeks of the pwecious children who are blowing shit up at 12.30am though. They are soooo cute and special.

Compared to airplane noise at 6.30 AM a few fireworks in the evening really doesn’t bother me.

Queanbeyan Police have been running around all night to “noise complaints due to fireworkds” tonight and last night, so they can’t say they had no reports.

In fact as I type this there’s some big ones being let off now

Hehehe I actually find it quite amusing…. and yes I have a dog but he doesn’t give a toss about them.

And yeah, my neighbours were still letting them off after 1am this morning. I expect more of the same for the rest of the week. Too bad for those of us trying to study for major exams…

It really wouldn’t make much difference, since everyone just does what they want already!

nyssa said :

So why bother saying that there will be tough enforcement and $3000 fines for those who illegally discharge fireworks if it’s not going to be policed? We all know very well that people aren’t going to stick to the 5-9 hours and only let off fireworks on Sat and Sun. Limiting the hours won’t change a damn thing, do the ACT govt really think we’ll be so easily appeased?

So should they say instead – “AFP have no staff available to police the firework regs so just do what you want”

The limits are a joke. My friend was just telling me that her neighbours were lighting big ‘uns after 1am this morning. Our neighbours continued until just before 12pm.

The reckless ones will spoil it for the families that stick to the rules. The Government is just building their case to ban them all together.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

The loud bangs should be a clue…

– Officer! Oh, officer! Somebody is letting off fireworks after 9pm!
– Who? Where?
– Somebody! Somewhere over there, I think – where the bangs are!
– Well, I do have murders to solve, but I guess I could wander the streets aimlessly trying to triangulate the sound…

So why bother saying that there will be tough enforcement and $3000 fines for those who illegally discharge fireworks if it’s not going to be policed? We all know very well that people aren’t going to stick to the 5-9 hours and only let off fireworks on Sat and Sun. Limiting the hours won’t change a damn thing, do the ACT govt really think we’ll be so easily appeased?

The loud bangs should be a clue…

– Officer! Oh, officer! Somebody is letting off fireworks after 9pm!
– Who? Where?
– Somebody! Somewhere over there, I think – where the bangs are!
– Well, I do have murders to solve, but I guess I could wander the streets aimlessly trying to triangulate the sound…

Qbn police said they’d had no reports

Probably too busy letting off their own and having a couple of beers to care :>

The report about it in today’s CT said 150 reports of fireworks being let off out of the allowed hours. Qbn police said they’d had no reports, which is amusing given the very active fireworks activity here last night! I guess no one bothers.

Interestingly enough, we had a couple, maybe 12 or so, let off on Friday night in Harrison. A fair few last night, but almost none until 6, and they were all done and dusted by no later than 9:15, which is fine.

We even have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, hardly the bravest of all dogs, and he just didn’t give two hoots about it. Well, he did have a couple of quick woofs on Friday night, but we made absolutely zero fuss over it and he shut up when he figured out we weren’t going to stop them.

There certainly are a whole lot less being let off this year than last year. Last year it was pretty much solid for a week, this year there’s just no-one. I’m going to guess tonight is the big one though.

I don’t think they were going to enforce it. They’ll just ban them if it keeps happening.

The loud bangs should be a clue…

There is no one to enforce it unfortunately

How the hell are you going to enforce that rule… seriously?

It all hinges on people doing the right thing… and of course they won’t.

But it’s not just people who let off fireworks… there wouldn’t be as many deaths on the road if people abided by the rules and wore seatbelts, didn’t speed, didn’t run red lights etc. It’s just a fact that people will not abide by the rules.

I actually quite like fireworks, but I live in NSW so don’t buy them… there’s been plenty of them go off around me tonight though… in fact I believe at least one red Australia Post mailbox has been blown up in Queanbeyan tonight.

And I am in Gungahlin and people are still setting off fireworks…surprise surprise. I thought there was going to be “tough enforcement” of the 5-9 rule?

Exactly, fireworks are made purely for recreational purposes, unlike cars. So the comparison doesn’t work.

Jonathan: The strange thing about cars is that they are actually useful. You know, carrying the groceries, travelling to work, taking the kids to soccer … that kind of thing.

Banning the use of cars would have a real and detrimental impact on the workings of society. On the other hand, banning firecrackers just means people get more sleep.

My cat has quite seriously been watching them all night..hurrah!!

I have a short story here about firework sales on the CanberraVotes site:
http://www.canberravotes.com/2008/06/queens-birthday-firework-sales-07-june-2008/

I personally see nothing wrong with maintaining firework sales within a well regulated industry.

If you are responsible pet owners you’ll keep them indoors and I maintain that two nights of fireworks are no worse than some of the worse thunderstorms your pets are likely to experience.

I’ll let the individuals who incessantly scream that fireworks should be banned ponder the following thought… I guarantee that most of you also own a car. However I don’t see you frothing at the mouth and getting in a lather saying that ALL cars should be banned, just because few d!ckheads do dough-nuts and burn-outs on the public roads…

I’m in NSW and got some fine cracker displays going off in all directions. And many surrounding dogs barking their heads off.

I was in both Ngunnawal and Fraser and there were heaps of fireworks in the area. It’s 1030pm and they’re still going off.

While in Fraser and little dog came up to us, scared. I was able to find the owner who was out looking for it. He was home, but the dog still got out. Driving home, I saw at least 3 dogs wandering around. How hard is it to keep your dog in its yard?

Didn’t see a F’ing thing. The bogans of Holt have let me down (not even mr orange gun guy). If anybody would like to swap an absolutely silent 270 degree view of a golf course, 3br ensuite and DLUG with something similar in Red Hill, Yarralumla area – give me a call.

H is in for a noisy, and smelly, night. Poor dog.

Eh, I wonder how many Republicans actually buy and let off fireworks. Hippocritters.

Oh, and to all those irresponsible jerks who won’t even bother searching for their lost animal at the RSPCA, I hope a firework lodges itself in your ar@se and fails to ignite, so you too can live with the same anxiety you bestowed on your animal.

ant said :

I wonder if H’s dog has calmed down yet?! Quite a visual, that one. Dog might blast itself into orbit.

Calm now, only 17 minutes to go until legal explosion time though…..

No, I lie. She just started again. Some wanker just wasted a $10 firecracker and let it off during daylight.

I wonder if H’s dog has calmed down yet?! Quite a visual, that one. Dog might blast itself into orbit.

this is the first year i’ve been able to buy fireworks, so.. yea.. keen for it.

There was what appeared to be a sale of fireworks occurring in a shopping centre car park I visited on, I think, Tuesday or Wednesday. I name it not, but suspect it’s how people get the things early and shows that regulation/licensing means nothing if the price is high enough for it to be ignored.

When the things get banned, as they will be, it will be largely down to the idiot fringe who play pyrotechncs days early/blow up letterboxes/abuse and fighten animals. That’s a pity for those (probably a majority of fireworks purchasers) who would do the right thing.

Fireworks weekend or not, those illegal explosives are going to be just as easy to get.

My teenage son has ‘acquired’ a heap of illegal bangy fireworks from a mate with ‘contacts’. Exactly HOW is the import and sale of this explosive policed???? Apparently they arrived by a truck from NT.
This year I have temporarily removed my letterbox (fourth in eight years) for the weekend, though I expect it will get blown up later on, as people use up their mortars after the fashion.

I love Skyfire (go every year) but detest this weekend.

These will be the same people who will scream blue murder if they are banned outright because people cant follow the rules

Actually I think the people screaming blue murder if they are banned will be the families who buy them for children to watch and enjoy – who leave them in a safe place until the permitted time and let them off within the guidelines.

FWIW in my area there were some last night – mostly quite late – but fewer than in previous years.

I honestly don’t know why anyone thinks changing the law with regard to when you’re allowed to let these things off will change anything.

It’s like thinking that speed cameras will reduce speeding…

If anyone here was resident in Canberra before fireworks then you have a case. If you were here after that shut up. Simple. Like those wankers in jerra who moved in under a flight path and wonder why its noisy.

My dog is alternatively going beserk and farting. Bark bark bark bark bark, fart, bark bark bark bark bark, fart, run in circles, fart. On and on and on…….if only the internets had smell-o-vision I could share her farting and barking with the world. Bed now.

there was heaps let off tonight on like the mawson oval..it was quite entertaining watching it at work

Anyway, my cat hasnt complained/clawed me to death yet, thank god..tomorrow on the otherhand could be fun.

Oh well. Bedtime now. Can’t wait for 2, 3, 4 and 5 am and the usual BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG (bomb like BANGS) thanks to all the law breaking SELFISH DRUNKEN WANKERS.

They only have themselves to blame when the entire thing gets banned for everyone.

Have heard a few bungers/mortar type things already tonight (live near a decent sized open parkland space) – these certainly aren’t fireworks of the legal variety.

We have two cats, one couldn’t care less about the fireworks, but the other does get really freaked out. Poor little bugger. We have fireworks being sold a few blocks from our house and there’s plenty of open space near by. No surprises then that crackers have gone off a few times already tonight.

I just don’t see the fascination myself???

There’s quite a useful ad on TV by the RSPCA about how dogs perceive fireworks, it might help get the message through. Dogs can get very silly. Our terrier was monstered by a big dog some years ago, and took off (she’s a twit). Didn’t see her again until a phone call from the kennel up the road, saying the airport had rung about a small dog. Turns out she’d got across the main road and spent the night on the runway, dodging planes. They’d captured her in the morning.

There has been a constant pop pop pop here all night (Friday). These will be the same people who will scream blue murder if they are banned outright because people cant follow the rules.

When you buy the things you agree to the law which is only to let them off on Sat 7 and Sun 8 June between 5pm-9pm. So why is my dog going BESERK now?

If people want to be able to use fireworks in the ACT and NOT have them banned then why do they think it’s fun to screw it up for themselves in the future?

Thanks wankers.

Btw, I bought some (my two young boys like to watch stuff exploding), but will use them when I am allowed to, with my dog locked in the laundry.

Peterh mentioned bonfires. Are we even allowed bonfires in Canberra anymore? Local councils have banned them elsewhere, so I’d assume the same for backyards here too.

lemaChet said :

what if a person doesn’t have an appropriate yard, but still wants to use fireworks ?

Just go out in the balcony, hold them in your hand, and either point them at your own\somebody else’s face.

I have a friend who has a stunning sample of his drunken behaviour enshrined on YouTube, where he only got second degree burns to his arm and scalp, and had to take a week off work…

generaly, people let off fireworks in their own backyards, yea ? (or front)

what if a person doesn’t have an appropriate yard, but still wants to use fireworks ?
Is it illegal or anything to go them out on the road, if one lives in a culdesac, or to go down to the local oval ?
This strikes me as a safer option..

You also have to consider the types of crackers that seem to be set off in canberra at night – there are some that sound like a rifle, yet others sound like a very large cannon.

I am sure that the one that went off a couple of nights ago was a stick of dynamite, no way would a cracker be that loud….

cracker night seems to be like a war zone, with some people trying to out do the others, and the resulting noises makes you think that we are under attack.

Dogs (and I thinkcats) have pretty good hearing, and can probably pick up the noise even if they’re indoors. The comforting presence of known people will probably help.

Seriously, even if half the population thinks exploding noisy and bright Chinese gunpowder is pretty good, it remains a dumb thing to do.

My dog was OK with fireworks until some idiots decided to blow up the neighbours letterbox with some large fireworks a few years ago. Our windows rattled so hard that I am surprised they didn’t blow in. After that he has been freaked out by fireworks even if they are being let off a couple of houses away. We considered going away for the weekend but we were worried about our mutt so we chose to stay home. There was no guarantee that the area around the boarding kennels would be fireworks free and we wouldn’t expect our friends to have him inside their home if they looked after him.

Its a family at home weekend, which includes a mutt who gets to be inside for a change.

considering that I have no dogs, my cats seem to think that if it doesn’t involve food or sleeping it doesn’t matter, I don’t have this problem with fireworks.

what I do have is small children. If the absolute moron who lobbed a penny bunger on my front lawn last night reads this, try setting them off at your house instead. or blowing up your car as you try to peg them out the window. either, I don’t care.

I have mates that have missing fingers / toes / holes in their legs /arms etc from the halcyon days of fireworks night and the fact that we could buy them for weeks prior to the weekend.

a favored pastime was to blow up letterboxes, even concrete ones. The crackers we could get a hold of back then were close to dynamite. Good job that they banned those ones….

Then again, I grew up in charnwood, says a lot.

I don’t have an issue with a family watching a father letting off the fireworks in a wheelbarrow of sand, as long as:

a) all the kids are inside and the doors are locked
b) there isn’t a bonfire that is too close to the pack of fireworks for spark ignition
c) it isn’t me.

perhaps if the government wants to keep letting people buy and let off fireworks, they should set aside designated areas like the ovals that dot the suburbs. no-one sets fire to their own or the neighbor’s house and the police can do random checks to see what is being let off.

alternatively, a public fireworks display or two across the weekend would be another option.

Cracker night(s) this year is sat and sun nite before 9.

Next year it will be only one night and the year after it will be no night (I reckon).

mine likes the rockets and penny bungers best, but her paws can’t always make the match and wick meet up, so sometimes she gets me to light them…

yes, so keep skitty hounds inside; awful story of friend’s foster-greyhound at the olympic flame tri-mtn fireworks display night, got spooked out walking as they started, friend couldn’t hold and the poor thing bolted, got collected by a car a couple roads down. ;(

My dogs are inside dogs all year……maybe i should put them out over the long weekend to give them a taste of what life could be like!

hi what days can you let fireworks off this year?