BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?

Subject: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:37 PM

I expect I'll sound a terrible killjoy, and of course I used to adore Guy Fawkes Night when I was young.
But fireworks then seemed to be much quieter and mostly pretty and colourful. I used to like Catherine wheels and Roman candles, golden rain and silver fountains. We children held sparklers which we waved to make patterns, while we watched the Guy burn on the bonfire.

But outside just now, two nearby families are having the most frightening Bonfire Night known to man. It sounds like the blooming Somme. The explosions are deafening, and spent rockets are raining down on our garage, conservatory and house roofs.

One family is opposite, and the other is two doors down, right next to Logie and Molly (two beautiful dogs) who I can hear screaming and barking in fright.

There are oil tanks in everyone's back garden, full of kerosene. Our neighbour has drums of red diesel standing in front of his house for his tractor.
There is farm stock (beef and dairy cattle, pigs and sheep) in all the surrounding fields, and about twenty horses at the riding stables up the road. Straw stacks and old farm barns etc too. Imagine the panic among the animals!

My husband has just hurriedly popped our car in the garage.
It's been going on like this for two hours solid, and I'm getting angry.
Would it be better to ban 'private' purchase of fireworks and restrict them to public displays only? There must be no end of awful accidents, and the poor Fire Brigade must be going flat out around Norfolk.

I have to add (just to give the entire picture) that these two families are not country folk. They come from further south and perhaps don't fully understand this environment. I'm very fond of them and always give a few small presents for their children at Christmas, in case people think I'm a miserable old hag! :)

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: peregrina
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:40 PM

I agree!
Freelance fireworks nightly, intermittently for a few hours
Every since the 1st
Noise, terrified animals, danger to wildlife and a few tragic human accidents every year
Can't believe these DIY explosive are sold all over the place, even with BOGOF

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:51 PM

Nah. We can't go around banning stuff. I hate foxhunting but I'd rather ridicule it out of existence than ban it (which hasn't worked in any case). If you ban abortion you simply drive it underground and we end up killing young women. The Catholic Church tries to ban masturbation, the upshot being that now 99.253% of Catholics do it as opposed to 99.756% previously. Argue your case, organise demos, put out leaflets. But if you start wanting to ban stuff, you lose me. Batten down the hatches, close the curtains and have a cup of char. Fireworks are a tradition the whole world over and billions of people need a bit of light in their lives. It'll pass!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:53 PM

Good luck trying to do that. In the US someone will always find a way to sell or buy fireworks.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:56 PM

Don't forget, everybody,
that Senoufou opened a thread here
when there was a fire across the street.
Remember that house that burned to the ground?
No wonder she's spooked, and her husband as well!!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Iains
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 04:04 PM

Having bought bangers by the handful at 8 years old, this is a subject I am not best suited to comment on. Perhaps part of the problem mentioned is that more and more people go through life having no contact with animals. They give no thought to the matter beyond their own enjoyment. It is perhaps education required rather than more legislation. There is also the additional problem that education may not cure selfishness, anymore than legislation can cure stupidity.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 04:08 PM

Free speech comes in many unexpected forms. an artist who specializes in the unseen truths that can be communicated is HERE

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 04:12 PM

You might know the pioneers of the ineffable speech such as James Joyce, Professor Irwin Corey, Crosby or Donuel.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 04:33 PM

Husband has just gone out with a torch to check there's no smouldering going on around our oil tank, and also to scan our neighbour's outbuildings, which are all of wooden construction.

The explosions seem to have abated somewhat, but more have started up further away (I reckon it's The Fox pub, down by the river, where they usually have a display)

Hee hee Steve, despite the disapproval of the Catholic Church, I rather wish these folk spent their evening masturbating instead - at least it would be nice and quiet!

I'm not calling for a total ban on fireworks, but it seems reasonable to me to have better control by limiting them to supervised, public displays, and not selling them in supermarkets to all and sundry.

I've been to one of these once, and there were safety barriers, plenty of security measures and extinguishers etc. The men setting them off were professionals and dressed in special fireproof clothing with balaclavas.

Also, the fireworks were wonderfully creative and spectacular.

I have heard that in some urban areas, youths cause untold problems and distress by chucking fireworks at people's windows or through their letterboxes, setting fires all over the place.

At least there's no malicious stuff like that here in our village.

Just bloody deafening noise!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 05:22 PM

In Florida, where I live, explosive and aerial fireworks are illegal while sparklers and other non-explosive items are okay. However, there's this little loophole: fireworks sellers can legally sell explosive and aerial fireworks to purchasers who sign affidavits stating that they are for "agricultural use". That means they're going to be used to scare birds from farm fields or fish ponds. Yeah, right....

I suppose an apartment complex swimming pool could be considered a fish pond.

And, for those who don't want to risk a $1000 fine for lying on such an affidavit, all fireworks are legal in the neighboring states of Georgia and Alabama. Fireworks buying road trips are a bit of a tradition before certain holidays.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 06:36 PM

As Steve says, difficult to ban it completely. But restrict to organised displays, and for the UK at least, keep it to November 5th, whatever day of the week it falls on, rather than have a week or more of nightly big bangs and animal mayhem!
(Says she, who lives in Edinburgh, where they have very bangy fireworks at the end of every Tattoo performance for a few minutes, then the Festival fireworks concert, lasting 45 minutes, and a huge display at Hogmanay too!)
However, sticking to set dates at least allows animal owners to take any necessary precautions for their pets.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 07:37 PM

Well I suppose. But just keep your pets indoors of a November evening anyway! Jeez!

I spent a week on the Amalfi Coast in August 2013, there were fireworks every night and it was all dead jolly. Same in 2014 on Lipari.

And, Senoufou, you may rest assured that a Catholic masturbation session is bloody noisy. Ooh ahh YES!!! Glory be...!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 12:58 AM

I've always thought of Catholic masturbation as being quiet and polite, but maybe Steve knows something I don't know....

...and I have to say that I have always been a bit ambivalent about Guy Fawkes Day. I mean, which side am I supposed to be on? And what are the appropriate greetings to be extended on such an event? - throwing firecrackers at your neighbors?

-Jose-

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 02:55 AM

I'm with Joe o this
I used to enjoy Bonfire Night as a child - I never realised the Catholic connection until later in life - it was a harmless street get-together - literally - the council used to have to re-tar our street every year
Things seemed to have changed so much as to make them undesirable
In some places they have become a symbol of HATRED AND SECTARIANISM

Mind you, if we could manage to get Trump to......
nah- he'd never volunteer
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 03:07 AM

Tattie, one of my nieces lives in a flat the centre of Edinburgh (postcode EH1) and hates the Festival fireworks set off each night after the Tattoo.

I'm perfectly sure that Catholic Masturbation Sessions take place with the utmost decorum.

I have happy memories of begging our father for an old shirt and trousers, stuffing them with rolled-up newspaper, attaching a home-made mask (complete with a crayonned-on moustache) and wheeling our Guy over to the parade of shops on my sister's old pram. We'd call out, "Penny for the Guy!" and kind folk would give us one penny. With the accumulated money we bought our fireworks.

The Guy was attached to a pole in the middle of the bonfire before it was lit, and we'd cheer like anything when he started to burn, chanting,
          "Remember, remember
          The fifth of November
          Gunpowder, treason and plot.
          I see no reason
          Why gunpowder treason
          Should ever be forgot!".

But these industrial-sized monstrous explosive devices seem a long way from those sedate days.

This morning there are spent rockets on our drive and lawn. At least our little Fiesta car is safe in our garage.

Wonder if the whole thing will be repeated nightly until after the 5th November?

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 05:03 AM

I agree 110% Senoufou, while ignoring the many very loud bangs around at the moment when indoors, our greyhound Dreamy was so terrified when walking her last night that she turned around and pulled me towards our house.

It should be displays only.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 05:22 AM

The noise is probably much worse for dogs than it is for us, as dogs hear sounds that our hearing doesn't pick up.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 05:49 AM

Very true.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 05:54 AM

I have to say that our old and dozy cats didn't seem at all perturbed. They slept all evening on the sofa as usual.

But I could hear everyone's dogs barking, howling and hysterically screaming. (I'd say there are about twenty dogs in the immediate vicinity of our bungalow) Our window panes actually shook with each bang.

I'm sorry Dreamy was so frightened Bonzo. I've read one can get tablets from the Vet which are supposed to calm dogs down, but people we've spoken to say they're not terribly effective.

I've yet to encounter the local farmers/stable owner to discover how they fared. I expect it was a complete and total nightmare for them and their stock.

I'm just praying it doesn't all start up again this evening. Monday is the Fifth, and after that, fingers crossed, we might get some peace!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 06:21 AM

Piss-heads letting off what sounded like small thermonuclear devices in the garden behind my house at 11pm last night. What a cunch of bunts! We'd both just dropped off to sleep when those anti-social shit-for-brains started their antics.

Fortunately, my dog isn't disturbed in the slightest by firework-noises - when he was a pup, 3 months old, we bought a CD of firework sounds and played it every night for a few weeks, quietly at first, but getting louder as the evenings went on, in order to de-sensitise him to fireworks. It worked very well - in the house he doesn't react to firework-noise at all, outdoors he's excited by fireworks and thinks they are a great game. Of course, around this time of year, New Year's Eve etc., we don't walk him in the evenings but, in our little town, there are often occasions when some brain-dead throwback thinks it's a good idea to annoy people with fireworks, so we do sometimes get caught out.

I'm in the camp that says fireworks should be banned from sale to the general public, purely on the grounds that so many people seem unable to behave responsibly and in a socially-aware manner with them, but I do believe that 'official' properly-organised public displays can be a delight and, subject to controls, should not only be permitted, but encouraged.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Mo the caller
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 07:34 AM

As a Blitz baby in west London I used to be put to sleep under the stairs. Maybe that is why I don't like bangs.
Also I hate the wastefulness and the taste of the air when a lot of fireworks have been let off for weeks.
As well as scared animals.
Unnecessary. There are rules in place, which have improved things a bit (I live a mile from a wedding venue and there used to be noisy displays late almost every Saturday). But the noisy ones shouldn't be sold to the public.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 08:16 AM

Quite a lot of bangs from next door between say 8 and 10pm. I don’t know what poor old PussPuss who is currently living in the field made of it but I hope it hasn’t prompted him to move home.

From a personal noise perspective, I’m not to bothered but there is only the one semi about 20yds in front of us where I’d be “on top” of the noise. There is very little in the way of nuisance noise here and I do believe in a bit of live and let live either way.

(But that said, I did get annoyed with music going on till about 1am from the general direction of the road junction a few weeks back. Whoever they were, they must have been using some fairly heavy PA kit. I could feel vibrations from the bass in my room and you could hear the music in the living room, a bit OTT, I felt).

With regards to past pets. I think our last dog, Misty was the only problem one. She was scared of bangs and crashes whether from shotguns, thunder (where she could serve as an early warning with her hearing) or fireworks. Her reaction was to try to hide under a bed or chair. I suppose from that sort of perspective, it would at least be nice to be informed that a firework event was due to take place so someone can make sure they are around to comfort the disturbed animal.

Overall, I think safety is the greater issue. There are fire risks and you do read of nasty mishaps every year. And possibly there are questions over the fireworks some people by these days for home use? My home childhood memories are mostly the small box of Standard Fireworks which were all gone in about 20 minutes and (I think once you’ve grown passed the sparkler stage) often a bit of a let down. But the sort of things going from next door last night seemed more like display fireworks (but perhaps there were were always rather bigger ones for general sale and I didn’t see them at home)..

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 08:30 AM

Tragedy at Woking last night tended to put the tamper on proceedings there - six children hospitalised, none seriously
This was n organised bonfire and the accident was with a slide, not the fire itself, which was cancelled - shame !
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 11:40 AM

Our now deceased little cat Minty ("paix a son ame" or "peace be upon him" as my husband always says at the mention of his name - he adored that little cat) was terrified of fireworks and somehow managed to squeeze himself right behind the dishwasher. The space is about two inches each side, and the same at the back, so no idea how he did that.

If the machine was actually on, he'd go on top of the kitchen cupboards (same-sized gap) and flatten himself into a two-dimensional shape like a cat in a cartoon.

I had a look at Norfolk Fire Brigade's 'live feed' where most call-outs are listed as they happen, and there were surprisingly few actual fires (thank goodness).
Not quite dark yet here, so no idea if we'll have peace tonight. (paix a nos ames!)

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 02:18 PM

All quiet on the Eastern Front!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 02:29 PM

Not a criticism but a suggestion - I'd translate 'paix à son âme' with the English expression 'God rest his soul'.
As for 'our' souls, it's quiet here for once after over a week of bangs, but I expect they'll be at it again tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 02:51 PM

It's used by my husband when speaking of the Prophet Mohammed (alayhi s-salam) and as he normally speaks French, he expresses it as 'Paix a son ame'. (Sorry, I can't make my keyboard do circumflexes or acute accents)
Whenever he mentions his late father or anyone who has passed away (and Minty!) he always says it.
It can be translated as 'Peace be upon him.' But 'ame' is indeed French for 'soul'.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 02:55 PM

Good luck to all with pets tomorrow - we no longer have them since a boy-racer saw off our last one.
Ths strangest (an in may ways, fondest) memory I have of pets on bonfire knight was when we lived in London
We used to take in a workmate's dog when he went off for weekends, but had had to stop because, on the point of moving to a house with a garden, we had acquired a cat (we named it 'Tess' after our favourite novel, but Walter Pardon renamed it Contessa thanks to her somewhat haughty nature)
One November, just before Bonfire night, our mate asked i we could take his dog - (family emergency)
We reluctantly agreed
We lived high up above London with a view right across the Thames, and just as the flashes and bangs started, Tess leapt in terror onto my shoulder and the dog (Russell - always reckoned he and his owner, Bruno had swapped names) climbed onto my lap shaking.
The two sat there for over an hour staying in hatred at each other, but too terrified to do anything about it.
Happy days
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 03:04 PM

'Peace be upon him' it is then.

(For the accents, I use ALT codes. You need a number pad on your keyboard, not the row of numbers along the top, and the 'Number Lock' ON, and you put in numbers using the number pad while the ALT key is held down - 133 for à and 131 for â. There are lots more. It's one of the most useful things I've ever learnt from Mudcat.)

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 03:45 PM

That's most kind of you Jos, I'll have a go tomorrow at doing accents.

But when you say "You need a number pad on your keyboard, not the row of numbers along the top" I don't quite understand. On this laptop I only have a row of numbers along the top. so how/where do I get a 'number pad'?

There's a key that's labelled alt gr (whatever that means!) and if I hold it down, it does an acute accent over an 'e'. Like this - é (demonstrates) But it doesn't do any other accents.

I might have an MA, but I'm as thick as two short planks where technology is concerned. Sorry, I know it's irritating and makes competent folk grind their teeth.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 06:06 PM

On behalf of my dog, cat, remaining hen, the local pine marten (reason for reduction in hens), all 'my' red squirrels, and the aray of wild birds we have in this locale - i say ban the fireworks! Even the organised displays.- for the above reasons, plus domestic / farm animals an all wild creatures.... abd the fact that thousands of ££££ are wasted on these ridiculous events, while so many people are sleeping rough/using foodbanks abd just struggling to survive. Ggggrrrrrrr!
( oh look Senofoy, i accidentally did a 'something' above one of tge 'r's!!!! )

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 08:16 PM

To be contentious. Now why should I, as a bloke who rather likes the annual fireworks shenanigans, and who thinks that human beings go through so many privations in life as it is and deserve to let their hair down occasionally, worry in the slightest about those people who choose to possess those noisy 365-day shitting machines known as "dogs?" Just keep your curs in your bloody house for the night. You don't blame the Lord God when he sends you gales, hailstones and thunder and lightning, do you? You possess a polluting beast for the whole year then moan when you have to keep it indoors a couple of nights a year. Dog owners are part of the bloody problem on this planet fer chrissake. I went to buy a birthday card in the local card shop the other day and there was dogshit trodden all over the carpet in the shop. Very nice. Get a bloody life!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 08:27 PM

And fourteen posts out of 32 so far have mentioned their pets. Just keep them indoors. I absolutely promise you that they'll get over it. I had cats for forty years and they came indoors on bonfire night and slept in front of the fire. Just cut out the imperialistic killjoy stuff. Live and let live.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 10:15 PM

I love fireworks.
They are beautiful, especially over water.
Therefore, they should not be banned.
Q.E.D.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Howard Jones
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 02:47 AM

Keeping pets inside doesn't shield them from the noise. Cats seem less concerned, at least ours don't appear to be bothered, but dogs seem to get it worse. Our last dog was absolutely terrified and would hide herself away in the furthest corner of the house, sometimes squeezed in behind the toilet. Our current dog is epileptic and on so much medication that she doesn't seem to notice.

I wouldn't ban them, but it would be nice to go back to the time when people had small displays on Bonfire Night itself, and not the continuous barrage we are now subjected to. It never used to be possible to buy fireworks at other times of the year.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jos
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 04:48 AM

Eliza,
You need a separate number pad to use the ALT codes, like the number pads in cash machines, at the right-hand side of the keyboard on bigger laptops, so next time you buy one ...

If you use a Word document, click on 'insert' at the top, and then on 'symbol', and you will have lots to choose from. (Then copy and paste into the mudcat message box.)

Or you could try these in a Word document, but they don't seem to work in the mudcat box:
Hold down CTRL and press , then release CTRL and type c for ç
Hold down CTRL and SHIFT for : then release CTRL and type e for ë
If you have an ` you can hold down CTRL and press ` then release CTRL for à
Hold down CTRL and SHIFT for ^ (over the 6) then release CTRL and type o for ô

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jos
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 04:55 AM

Excuse my (lack of) proofreading - it should say
If you have an ` you can hold down CTRL and press ` then release CTRL and type a for à

These work for some other letters as well.

Gallus Moll, sadly there is nothing interesting happening above any of the 'r's now as it appears in your message.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 05:00 AM

To be honest, I find it a little disgusting that the English burn an effigy of a Catholic annually.

In Ireland, fireworks are illegal; however, the law is no longer particularly well enforced.

I'd be all for a proper ban, and a big fireworks display run by professionals in the centre city - was at one of those for… hmm… maybe the Dublin Millennium, celebrating the city's 1,000th year, and it was great fun - music, dancing, fireworks, and all safe and controlled.

Best thing for frightened dogs is a Thundershirt - you can buy them online. My late dog was utterly terrified, and a Thundershirt completely calmed her.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 06:27 AM

Strangely Thompson, I can't remember ever thinking of the Guy as a Catholic, merely as a Bad Man who tried to blow up Parliament.

No doubt the historical facts were taught at school when we were older, but either we didn't listen very carefully or dismissed them, and at the age of seven or eight we more than likely had no idea.

The Guy effigy was a source of pride in our creative talents, as we made every effort to portray his face realistically with our wax crayons and some years we wrapped an old scarf round him and put an old hat on his head.
(Often these last items were retrieved before the burning.)

Our neighbour has just this minute told me that she picked up fourteen spent rockets in her garden, and many were embedded in the earth (could have been someone's head) as they had some sort of metal on the nose part of the missile.
Apparently our village Facebook (I'm not on Facebook, but she is!) is full of complaints about these inconsiderate people and the excessive noise, which went on for far too long.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 06:34 AM

Thank you so much Jos for your kind help. I've tried your suggestions but the ctrl and shift keys don't seem to do anything about accents, and the letters just come out as normal.
My laptop is very small and basic (which is not a problem usually)
and I'll just have to put up with accent-less French and hope folk will understand!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 07:02 AM

Sen, one alternative is to use a character picker. The one shown here is the KDE(KChar Select) one on my Linux desktop but I'd guess any version of Windows should have something similar.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 07:18 AM

thanks Jos -- a wee Spanish looking squiggle appeared above one of the 'r's - but must have corrected itself (or maybe was a dirty mark on my screen?!

Eliza I apologise for mis-spelling your name in that last post - - should have checked before posting!

Steve - - you are as entitled to your opinion as I to mine - however I trust that if you are ever in need of a service dog / 365 day shitting machine* for example guide dog, hearing dog, search and rescue dog (mountains, earthquakes) you will have the decency to refuse their assistance as a matter of principle?
*by the way - what living creature does not pass waste? It is a normal bodily function and I am quite sure you - and your cats - do it too! So -- don't pick on dogs! Responsible owners pick up their dogs' faeces -- do you follow your cats through neighbours' gardens to ensure they don't perform in flowerbeds?

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 07:31 AM

Jon i meant!

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 07:44 AM

1. I have no neighbours.

2. Round here, many, many dog owners pick up the shit only when someone's watching. Even when they do, they leave smears for us all to contaminate our shoes or unsuspecting kids' hands with. Disgusting. And you may rest assured that my equivalent bodily waste goes into my septic tank. You will never tread in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 08:05 AM

"Round here, many, many dog owners pick up the shit only when someone's watching"

I agree that far too many owners fail to clean up after their dogs. But that is the fault of the owners, not their dogs. Take issue with those owners, by all means, but leave the decent, socially-aware dog owners (of which I'm one - I pick up after my dog every time, without fail) alone.

And you're a cat-lover aren't you Steve? I've never met a cat-owner who cleans up after his filthy-bastard devil-in-a-fur-coat. No, they let those dirty little c**ts out to roam around my garden, shitting in the borders and burying it, so I get it all over my hands when I'm weeding.

People in glass-houses and all that...

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 08:43 AM

I have no cats. Not since 2013.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 08:45 AM

"Take issue with those owners."

Not possible when you think about it...

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 08:50 AM

We did once supervise a cat's outdoor toileting for a short period. In his early days, Snotcat wanted to toilet at night but was inclined to roam. We used to take him into the field around midnight, let him do his business and then he would walk in with us. I don’t think he ever used a litter tray but I dread to think what he’d have been like with one. He used to dig holes frantically and it seemed like he was trying to dig down to Australia.

I don’t know where he (or other cats we’ve had) may have gone outside at other times but they do seem to like nice soft freshly dug patches and there’s usually a few of those in our own (counting the field in, quite large) area.

Back to fireworks… I didn’t hear any more over the weekend. As for keeping to Nov 5th, I guess that’s a bit awkward for some.   I’d imagine it would be easier for our neighbours for example, who I think would be inviting other family, to organise the event for the nearest Saturday.

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Senoufou
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 09:21 AM

Don't worry about spelling my name Gallus! My husband's tribe is actually the Senoufo (sometimes spelt Senufo), but I added a 'u' to make it end in the word for 'mad'. Spelling it is a nightmare I do realise!

You're all very kind in your efforts to help me get some accents on my keyboard. I don't think I'm on Windows (whatever that might be!) but I've looked at the lid of my laptop and it says Acer Chromebook II.

In our village people are very responsible about clearing up their dog messes. Our cats always use their litter tray, and hardly ever go outside nowadays, except to sit on the garden bench (but it's too cold now!)

I'm just praying that tonight being the 5th people will have already done their explosions on Saturday and we won't be having any more.

Neighbour's family own the riding stables, and she said on Saturday evening her brother had to 'speak' to a man who was firing big rockets directly over the stable block. (He actually called him a f******* wanker and some other things too)

I think people who aren't used to country life need a bit of education about the problems with livestock, straw, barns and so on when huge fireworks are set off. It's probably not such an issue in cities (except for terrifying the dogs)

Subject: RE: BS: Should Fireworks Be Banned?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 09:27 AM

Perhaps this will help then, Sen.