Also the firework problem flares up ('scuse the pun) once a year, the rest of the time people don't bother.  The government sits back and thinks don't react because once New Year is over the majority of complainers will quieten down for the next 10 months.

I don't think online petitions are 'officially' not recognised but they are ignored as their legitimacy has to approached as suspect and changes in laws are probably a much more serious and lengthy affair than you realise and all laws would be repealed if they proven to be originaly passed on false facts given to goverments.

Anyone can sit down and over a non specific period either fill in an online petition on pretty much anything, you would have vegan's claiming 15 million signatures that killing any livestock should be banned, quite what we would do with non profit making livestock is beyond imagination.
Farmers certainly would not pay to keep them as pets especially if another '15 million online petition' by some group or other claimed another 15 million signatures to say the stock should not be bred out of existence and either farmers or tax payers should keep to keep an increasing number of pigs and pay for them.
As far as ISPs go what if the petition was sabotaged the opposite way, say those who did not want livestock slaughtered signed the petition and after a year or two of it being available online all said they personally did not sign anything but it could have been done by 'an ex boyfriend' 'my kids mess about' 'I have changed my mind' etc and no goverment is going to askl the taxpayer to foot the bill to pay for ISP checks for 40,000 online petions on different things. Religious individuals would undoubatbly set up online petitions to change the law to benefit their beleifs etc
The only logical argument is if vets show there are veterinary grounds for a ban and that would need a very high percentage of the national pack of dogs injured when in fact the numbers of the national pack can never be known.

Firstly, I am perfectly aware of how lengthy and serious changes in the law are which is why I don't think anyone is going to listen to one group, namely dog owners, when it comes to changing anything that affects the whole population.

I am sorry but I don't think you can compare this topic to that of vegans, farmers etc for the simple fact that vegans are a very very small minority.  You have fair points to make regarding the online petition criticisms, however, if enough people support it surely it would show that there is discontent among the general population regarding the lax legislation regarding the sale of fireworks.

Well the reason they haven't bothered for the rest of the year this year, is due to the Firework Act, the voluntary code of conduct, the firework industry has agreed that fireworks should only be on sale 3 weeks before November 5th and a few days after, the same going for New Year - although there will obviously be some rule-flaunting throughout the year, it isn't as much of a problem as it is at this time of year.  So there's a good point, maybe we do keep quiet the rest of the year because we don't think about it, and maybe people who are concerned about fireworks have a responsibility to be concerned throughout the whole year and not just around November *note to self - remember this!*  Manchester Council (apparently, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!) has put in a place a ban that states fireworks can only be bought one week before 5th Nov and the resident who told me this says its 90% better this year, maybe we should be lobbying our local council's instead.

Another thing to take into consideration is the way the accidents are recorded.

For example, the Yorkie who ran away due to being scared by fireworks and was run over - this will be classed as due to being run over.

A field of young horses in Essex panicked at fireworks at a nearby property and two were so badly injured they had to be put down - its impossible to say what would have been cited as the cause as there isn't enough info but it would have been the actual accident not the fireworks that caused the panic in the first place  that was recorded, as the fireworks didn't directly cause the injury.

I used to work in a government office recording (human) accident data and it would be down to a temp to pick a category they think best (usually the easiest one that the computer software was designed to accept). There would only be about 12 categories and as you know there are more than 12 types of accident out there!

So just as statistics can be watered down into lesser categories there are also many many incidents that were the cause of public fireworks use that aren't recorded as such - fireworks are so often the start of a chain of events.

And there are other factors to take into consideration, like hearing.  The RSPCA website has a feature on a fireworks campaign they are running about noise levels, including a video they are lobbying MP's with about how fireworks sound to a dog: http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCACampaigns/Fireworks/FireworksHomepage
and the suggested use that if fireworks must be on sale to the public, they at least be the reduced noise level ones that are equivalent to the sound of a car door being slammed. 

I just don't see the need why fireworks must be available for the public.  I don't see why the public have a right to buy explosives from a supermarket offering them at half price for people to set off in their gardens when you can go to a free, organised, display, where safety measures have been put in place, risk assessments have been done.  The amount of children that are harmed each year by family displays, the amount of animals that are traumatised each year by 4 weeks of constant fireworks, the amount of people or animals that are hurt with deliberate intention (eg Chloe H's own example of what happened to her as a child), and the fact that we are supposed to be preventing terrorists being able to create bombs, the fact that my dog has to go 4 weeks or more being too scared to go in the garden for a wee, or go out for a walk, so that others can enjoy their right to set off fireworks in their back garden because they can't wait till this weekend to go to a massive free display at the bottom of the road....

I can quite handle one night a year, when we have the big display and I stay in with my dog and play loud music and expect her to maybe be a bit nervy, in fact make that 3 nights a year because we have Diwali and New Years Eve too...but the rest is just unnecessary and pointless in this day and age.

I agree too, there should only be organised displays.

look at all the replys to this topic surley if people got to gether we could do some think about it

not saying they should be band completly but   not on sale to the general public

its not just animals that get scared   my kids hate them my younges girl crys her heart out if one goes off near use while were out .

plus i get scared in case you have a silly person letting them off and they fly all over  .

I'm very happy for organised displays, we can't totally spoil fireworks night but get totally incensed by the continual barrage of fireworks at all hours.
My dog was brought up by the breeder to be used to fireworks, yet each year has been upset -not as badly as some, we use DAP etc, but still it's upsetting. I was so furious when idiots let off a very loud banger 2 years ago, my own adrenalin was racing and I was shocked (this was 12 noon) let alone my dog, and usually I'm not upset, but it was teh sheer unexpectedness of it :(

I rang police, environmental health etc, not because I felt they could help, but because I wanted them toknow how how much normal people can be affected by this (besides it was very therapeutic :P). It's also easy to be a prisoner in your own home during this period, because I for one won't go out in the evening in case there are nearby fireworks.

I also know of a lady with 2 autistic children, who hate fireworks, it's not just dogs!

I believe in Australia they have organised displays and that's it - I vote for that!!!

Lindsay
x

They also have "organised displays" in France as well Lindsay. :) It's illegal for them to be on sale to the GP.

I totally agree with you. I advocate a ban on selling them to the GP. Why do we need to have them on sale when there are plenty of free displays in nearly everybodys locale. If you enjoy fireworks then go along and watch proper organised displays where it's safe and far more spectacular than a watching a few spluttering about in a garen/ built up area.

But I digress, I would like to see them banned full stop. No public displays, no general sale. No, it may not stop all of it but it sure would stop a lot of it and that can be no bad thing.

Hi

What I cannot understand is that fireworks are explosives, and people who work with them, mainly armed forces have to train for many years and probably  it is ongoing.  Yet members of the public are allowed to walk into any shop that sells them and use them at home for a display and nothing comes of it.  I am all for banning the sale of them unless it is for a organised event.  The distress it causes to animals is a joke and needs to stop.

I hope you've all found the petition I posted :)

It does need to stop :)