28 September 2009

Protecting your pet this fireworks season

| johnboy
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The RSPCA is warning that fireworks season is upon us and offering advice for keeping your pet safe and sound.

    “Ideally owners should stay home with pets, but if that’s not possible, they should place the animal in a quiet room surrounded by their favourite toys, and possibly items holding the owner’s scent, with a radio playing quietly in the background. Some dogs benefit from a long walk earlier in the day followed by a good, hearty meal. A tired, well-fed dog is more likely to sleep during firework activity.”

    For horses and other livestock, he said removing them to a safer location was best or alternatively keeping them securely stabled. Smaller animals like birds and rabbits, should be brought inside or have cages covered with a thick blanket to muffle sounds, ensuring it doesn’t inhibit access to fresh air.

    “We also cannot stress enough how important it is that animals are not tethered. Panicked animals can injure or even choke themselves in an effort to get away,” Mr Linke said.

    He said that if owners were aware that their animals were extra sensitive to events like fireworks and exhibited extreme stress, they should speak to their vet about medication to ease the animal’s anxiety.

The RSPCA is also calling for an end to legal fireworks which is where we part ways. If only because I’ve spent a year in fireworks free NSW and seen just how big the fireworks enthusiasts go once they’re forced into the black market.

Fireworks

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They’re going off already around here. Should be a fun week……..

Incidentally, I used to live with two dogs (as in canines) and the fireworks didn’t bother them at all. However, one was terrified by hot air balloons flying over and the other got freaked out by cockatoos.

It’s time that those gutless wonders in the Legislative Assembly finally find the courage to ban bombs for braindead bogans. Canberra, the rest of Australia can exist quite happily without having fireworks for sale, so what’s wrong with this jurisdiction? The fireworks have started already in Kambah / Wanniassa and it’s only 8.30 pm on Monday night. I’m pretty sure that’s outside the permitted days and times. So if you are are a fireworks fan, here’s a tip. Either stick to the rules or shove the freakin’ things up your arse.

Mr Evil said :

Ban them – then build a shrine and get over it!

or… build a shrine, stick some crackers in it and light it up like a post box!

I don’t want to have Canberra radio playing in the background while I am away from my dog during fireworks season.

I have a real concern he will become even more stupid if I do.

Ban them – then build a shrine and get over it!

Around cracker time you see a lot of “backyard” cracker displays in NSW. And that’s pretty-well the only time you see/hear them, around my bit anyway.

Some structured community events with a set start and finish time would be nice – then I wouldn’t have to be concerned about when Joe Public will decide to let off some crackers in the following months.

lol, actually “the force” on prime 😛

Davo111 said :

meth labs?

watched csi last night too, did you?

meth labs?

The amount of times we hear the really big crackers going off in the middle of the night sometimes makes me wonder if they are actually fireworks, or if they are something else entirely. There have been some really big bangs recently, sounds like it is coming from wanniassa or the low end of kambah. one went off near mount taylor – managed to shake the windows of the house. coming from a background with the adf, these large bangs don’t particularly faze me. They are not your standard crackers, though, and they should really be removed from the hands of the people who are letting them off. The problem that the authorities face is tracking down the people that have them. There are instances where you hear 2 or 3 going off all over tuggeranong. Banning the crackers would not stop these large explosions. They would still exist, as the people letting them off don’t worry about being caught during the year outside the designated cracker times.

dosomethinguseful10:04 am 01 Jun 09

I have two dogs and have no problems with fireworks for public events or being avilable for the public to buy and use one weekend a year

Clown Killer9:41 am 01 Jun 09

I have always enjoyed fireworks on the June long weekend for the 20-odd years that I’ve lived in Canberra. It’s great fun and the timing corresponds with my birthday so it’s often a bit of a chance to get friends around and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of mucking about with pyrotechnics when you’ve had too much to drink.

That said, fireworks are highly distressing for some pets, particularly dogs and the irresponsible and illegal use of fireworks outside of the exceedingly generous permissible times for letting them off is, I believe, a valid reason for banning them.

No sense in banning them as you cannot legislate against stupidity.

True, you can’t legislate against stupidity, but you can legislate against supply. With domestic fireworks illegal everywhere else, it’s not like a significant and un-policeable black market will rapidly develop to meet market demand.

Sell them all year around to try to kill off the novelty factor. Stop making it “cool” to buy illegal fireworks and a lot of people will quickly lose interest.

They were going off all weekend around my place, so banning them obviously makes no difference whatsoever.

Inappropriate9:20 am 01 Jun 09

I’ve let off fireworks in past years, but I won’t be doing it this year simply because the current crop of consumer fireworks are simply lame and a waste of money.

That said, I’m happy if others let them off, doesn’t worry me in the slightest. I also own a dog (who doesn’t seem fussed by them) so I’ll be staying home and keeping an eye on her none the less.

No sense in banning them as you cannot legislate against stupidity.

IF you are going to let fireworks off at you place it’s nice to do a letter drop around the area to let people know what day and times. I did this last year and the neighbours were mostly happy as they had a bit of a heads up for their animals.

I’m with JB on this: ban them and they just get out of hand.

I don’t see the point in fireworks displays at all. It’s like football: if you’ve seen one game, you’ve seen them all. They all start the same, they all end the same, and they’re all the same in the middle. And both lead to moral indignation. (although, unlike footballers, at least fireworks are pretty for a moment in between being set off and polluting the atmosphere)

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