And so it begins.
Sunday afternoon someone in this neighborhood shot off firecrackers. One. At. A. Time. All. After. Noon. Long. It was VERY annoying, but it was hot so I stayed inside and cranked up the radio.
My stance on fireworks is this: they are unsafe, serve no purpose other than to make money for the seller and manufacturer and are mostly used by adults to impress kids, or are used by kids to impress each other. But they are legal and in an age of people who are more concerned about MY RIGHTS than in the well-being of others, they are sure to be a hit.
There are plenty of reasons to NOT set off fireworks. In addition to scaring the bejesus out of animals, they also frighten many humans, including war vets, victims of violent crime, small children and the elderly.
If you like them, practically every town puts on a fireworks show. Go watch it. But don’t put on your own.
For you pet owners out there, keep your pets inside, but don’t assume they won’t become lost just because they are indoors. Dogs have been known to break and jump out of windows in fear of fireworks. Or you could be outside in broad daylight walking your dog when an idiot neighbor decides it would be a good time to set some off. So have recent photos of your pet, and have updated tags on your companion with your name and phone number. Even if your pet is microchipped you still need the tag so if your neighbor down the street finds your dog or cat she can call you.
Dogpaddling Through Life 
I dislike fireworks … it’s like burning money… I always imagine what we could do with all the bucks some people shot in the air :o( but… like Joan Baez once sang: when will they ever learn….
Hey, nothing like making the fat cats richer at our expense, right?
yes :o)
Right on. I couldn’t agree more. I hate this time of year
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Sorry. Your rights don’t matter. Only those whose rights make money for others matter in this country. #FeedTheRich
That statement really hit the nail on the head. Fireworks, guns and religion. We constantly hear about those people and how their rights are being infringed upon. But yeah. What about the rights of pet owners, people who sleep, or people who go to public places? Don’t we have some rights?
Poor Jack – the only dog I’ve ever known, who has demons – couldn’t bark with you more, on this. The poor little guy goes into a fugue-state every time one of these idiots decides to play around with what can only be classified as an explosive. I’m not a “yuge” holiday fan, in general. But I never minded the Fourth. In fact, I kind of liked it. Now I just dread it.
And like Christmas, it gets longer every year. We have idiots with explosives in June, now.
Oh, and FWIW, they are illegal here in Massachusetts. Just doesn’t stop anybody.
There are some cities here that ban firework sales, so the tents go up just past the city limits and sell to all the city residents. They are criminals and we should call them that.
I agree Rumpy & Jen. They drove my childhood dog, a beagle, to the point of panic. I won’t go into the subject of the inappropriate choice by my parents to purchase a beautiful little boy beagle that would grow up to be a running, romping beagle for a girl living in the suburbs who probably needed something much easier to manage.
My adulthood years find me staying home as much as possible with my cats during the the July 4th holidays & on New Year’s Eve, more so when I know that where we live in a location where personal fireworks are legal to use. We have lived in many locations.
Moreover, in recent years, we have lived close enough to the ballpark of our small city that we hear the fireworks after the games of the minor league team’s games during baseball season. Every Friday Night from April through Labor Day and on their special occasions I can walk outside my home and view this beautiful gift. These fireworks are generally well-noted by my herd in some manner.
I also currently live in a community where fireworks are legal. Being logical and fair-minded, I have concluded that I cannot reasonably object to those who do enjoy legal fireworks. I understand that I cannot bring my Seattle & Candy standards and then proceed to force them on others. I need to understand and work sithin the culture I am joining. That is, when the fireworks are set-off on July 3,4, & 5; or as legal by municipal standards and by observing legal and reasonable hours. I have have not used legal personal fireworks in many years, likely not since my parents set them off for me when I was a child.
When I moved to North Carolina I discovered people smoked in outside venues. At first I was appalled, but then remembered I was living in the land tobacco built. I was the outsider required to adapt to the reasonable values of my new culture. Fortunately, smoling laws have changed. The tradition of fireworks has not.
I want to be with my loved ones, my cats, in case they should need comfort.I want to affirm, by being a point of reassurance, that all is well with the World & it will soon return to its own brand of normal. Thankfully, the new man in my life after divorce understands. He’d be gone if he didn’t. Others did not and were dimmediately dismissed. The old one who left me, who acquired the six cats and then directed me to put them down as he went metaphorically went out the door was not worthy of anything.
Rumpy and Jen, I affirm what you say about protecting all of the precious dogs. On the 4th of July, and on Halloween particularly.
I only add that some cats can be frightened by fireworks. Clearly those in your family are quite brave. To brave cats and to darling Rumpy.
I love that PC speak you’re using. I doubt the fireworks lovers would be so polite. I guess they may as well be legal because idiots will obtain and set them off regardless. And who wants a jail full of idiots on a holiday?
Giggling.
I hate fireworks. HATE them. I will be picking up medication to help my wee little doggie through the time of terror when enormous noises erupt from a clear sky for no reason. Thunder is bad enough. Fireworks are worse because they come with no change in barometric pressure to let her know that all hell is going to break loose.
I will be with her and we’ll weather it together. The vet has given me enough mild sedative for a week, should she need it.
My heart breaks for animals who have no one who cares and who cannot find shelter from explosive noises.
One year some neighbors got fireworks, set them off outside my daughter’s house in Massachusetts (where it is illegal to have them statewide) and frightened her sugar glider to death.
I lived in an ex-pat community in Mexico that banned fireworks. They were also banned on the beaches (a short walk from my house). People would launch shells from mortars on the beach (out over the ocean) and it sounded like I was in the middle of a war zone. By the time security or police could get there the miscreants were gone. It was one of the few times I’ve pondered taking my ornamental short sword and committing violence with it in a Braveheart moment.
I am sad about the sugar glider. Those bastards should have been charged with animal cruelty.
I agree. But it would have been hard to prove.
😢
We don’t like fireworks and on the 4th stay close to our dogs inside. And where I live it’s especially scary because of the drought with it being so dry and the fires.
I think there’s been enough tragedy from wildfire out your way; let’s hope the idiots behave themselves this year.
My cats meow in agreement. Perhaps they aren’t as reactive as dogs are but they do spend noisy evenings under the bed. Every year brings stories of kids who lost digits to the holidays.
In my mom’s hometown several years ago a guy was shooting fireworks to impress his kid with the family dog outside. The idiot set a rocket atop a patio table and lit it. Then the dog knocked the table over and the rocket shot right into the kid’s chest and killed him. I felt horrible for the kid’s mom and for the dog.
These things never end good. What is it with buys and noise?
I dunno.
sorry, guys and noise. We still dunno!
What is really sad is people have trouble buying food all year and paying their rent but still manage to buy hundreds of dollars in fireworks. Know several that do this every year. Geez….
I don’t judge. The poor have just as much right to be stupid as the rich do.
I wish the newspapers would publish your post.
I do a rain dance every year for the holidays. Sometimes it actually stops the idiots from shooting off fireworks,.I have gotten Composure from the vet. Hopefully it will help the dogs. Stupid parents for buying them for their children.
It’s so weird living out in the “country” now. We don’t have to worry about big firework displays anymore which is nice, but all of our neighbors seem to have an obsession with fireworks. So like you say it’s one at a time, sometimes for an hour but luckily not all day. It’s just such a crappy time for pets in general, and my sympathies go out to anyone that has a dog with severe noise phobias or anxieties.
Unfortunately people around our neighborhood will set some off every evening for the rest of the summer:(
Good grief! That’s terrible!
Dread it every season
Fortunately, the animals are okay with it; I’m the one who gets very peeved at people setting them off long after regular folks are usually asleep, throughout the work week.
They bother the cats, but not to the point of trauma. Rumpy seems to be OK with them for the most part. DeDe used to be terrified of them.
It’s been documented that July 5 if the day more pets are picked up by animal control than any other day of the year. In the city limits of Denver, fireworks are illegal, not so you’d know it anyway. *sigh* As Sam has gotten older, he’s become more sensitive and distressed with all sorts of loud noises. In our neighborhood in particular, there are more than the average number of idiots so we’ll turn up the music and spend lots of time distracting him. 😦 Stay safe and cool this weekend.
I didn’t know that on Jyly 4th, fireworks would be everywhere in US….and it causes the number of lost animals gets higher….teriible, isn’t it……Oh poor Rumpy….June Buggie will protects you….I hope nothing would happen in your neighbourhood…..*keeping my fingers crossed*
Good post. I’m so tired of the neighborhood idiots shooting off the fireworks. We just had some more today…today is the 5th. My dog is going nuts. I’m glad this holiday is over.
Had them here too, and well after 9 pm. I am also sick of them.
Our family loves dogs too. We treat them like real family members.. Good story!