General Chat

Well, I like fireworks (the pretty ones, not the very noisy ones) but I also have a dog who is terrified of them but she is also scared of lots of other things - car doors being slammed, gun shots, any flying insect. Most of these can't be banned and, as somebody said, we are supposed to live in a free country.

Yes, there are laws that limit their sale and use, but like a lot of laws, they are ignored by a few (just like the laws relating to dogs)

We are lucky that we now live in an area where there are very few - in fact I haven't heard one yet, although we do have a small display in the village on New Year's Eve. We go to it but we leave the television on fairly loudly and not tuned to channel that will show the displays around the country.

I have signed the petition and shared it on facebook because I do think that they should be restricted to orgainised displays run by professionals with the relevant licences. I have two sons who work for one of these companies and several years ago I did some computer work for them and was very impressed by how safety conscious they were (the MD was a Senior Fire Officer). They advised the local Fire Brigade, Police and Air Traffic Control and the employees were provided with complete protective clothes and visors. Yes, there can be accidents at them but they are very few.

Please, don't use quiet Chinese Lanterns instead - these can and do kill animals and cause fires.