fireworks and pets

[Lena]

And just to clear things up I have never let off fireworks as an adult.

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[hammerhead]

Job, because PEOPLE SUCK. So deal with it, my animals are going through same damn thing. Even worse I have ferals that are getting fixed this week and in my garage and my neighbors were letting off m-80’s last night. I had actual paper falling out of the sky. Called the police NOTHING.

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[JanS]

sadly, the police do not have the manpower, or the woman power to come to every call. They are even asking people to not call on the 4th, as it ties up their lines for other calls. So there you have it. Now…a shorter selling time might limit things…

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[Diana]

Can we please just support each other in caring for our animals with tips and techniques? This would be most helpful rather than pursuing issues that we could work on later. I have two dogs, a 14 YO Border Collie/Terrier mix and a 7 Month old Spaniel/Blue Heeler (possibly with some Border Collie in there too). Both are rescues. The Grand Auntie’s hearing and sight are waning, but she is doing well. The pup will experience her first 4th of July. Talk to your vet first. I have two vets, depending on the dog’s needs, so I balance between the two and we all work together to establish an approach that makes sense for each. For the pup, who is super high energy, she can get a little over loaded between exercise, play, and constant training. We walk the line, then she needs to do her time. So, this brings me to my plan for what has worked and anticipating that it will be a stressful long, hot weekend. She will probably go into a cool dark space, perhaps the bathroom. She will have her bedding, water, and some comfort toys. Depending on how things go I may give her a Benydril (discuss this with your vet). For the Grand Auntie, the shades will be pulled, windows closed, fans on, soothing music or TV on. It will be a balance. For sure it will be hot, traffic horrid, and neighborhood miscreants will do what they do. That’s something you can’t control. Care for your pets, even if you have to sleep on the bathroom floor.

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[JoB]

hammerehead..

i get that that the behavior of some people sucks.

what i don’t get is why everyone puts up with it

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[JoB]

Diana..

i am hoping that huddling in the bedroom every night with the AC on (the fans weren’t noise cancelling enough) and the television at full blast for 3 hours every night combined with daytime rides and walks in parks will be enough to keep our fireworks sensitive pet from becoming a quivering bundle of nerves before i can get her out of town for the “big” shows that include all day fireworks in our neighborhood.

it beats the 3 hour drive every night that i used to do with our last fireworks sensitive pet.. but not by much.

the difference is that with our last fireworks sensitive pet i only had to leave home for a few nights .. now it’s a few weeks :(

there is a huge difference between what used to happen and what now does.. and if we don’t acknowledge and address that difference it will only get worse.

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[JoB]

Lena..

i am sorry.

i too have neurological difficulties and know how difficult it can be at times to post with complete clarity…

or for that matter to read with clarity.

i didn’t realize i might have misunderstood your post until i had a chance to calm down and re-read your post.

truth be told the pup isn’t the only one suffering from the both the booms and the self imposed nightly noise blast that keeps her reasonably calm.

I am struggling to remain well enough to handle the trip to Eastern Oregon.

i do wish the Veterinary community would come out more strongly about the very real lasting impact that this can have on pets… as Veterans organizations have begun to do.

perhaps we can make the next 4th a little more enjoyable for us all.

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[anonyme]

Anyone else preparing a grab & run bag? I’m packing a few essentials, and also placing the cat carrier by the door, in the event that some moron sets my house on fire. Even now, I can hear fireworks going off by the (former?) meth house on the next block…

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[JoB]

i have had a grab and run bag ready for the past week..

we will be using it today.

I have arranged for someone else to enjoy my house and tend my garden while i am gone

with any luck they will both survive my neighbor’s rash behavior.

It’s dry as a tinderbox but the fireworks have been going strong hour after hour every night since Friday.

be careful out there and have a safe and happy fourth

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[trim]

anonyme — I don’t know if you understand exactly how hard finding M-80s actually are, so I highly doubt anyone in west seattle would have any, HIGHLY doubt it. I used to leave near tulalip reservation with heavily connected friends with people selling fireworks there and I had only ever seen 1 m-80 in my lifetime and my friends were very heavy on fireworks buying upwards of $1.5k each year. If your animal has problems with fireworks, put them in the basement if you have that ability. If not stop complaining about having to take your animal out of range of hearing fireworks. Quite frankly everyone has the right to celebrate the Independence of our country, legal or not it’s still going to happen and you can’t exactly make independence day celebrations that have been celebrated the same way for over 100 years illegal…. Once you get a pet, you have a responsibility to take care of your pet. It’s just like taking the dog out to use the restroom.

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[KBear]

Actually, Trim, people don’t have the right to use fireworks in Seattle, as it’s illegal. Doing it anyway does not make you a patriot, it makes you a bad neighbor, a bad citizen, and a jerk.

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[trim]

I should rephrase, Kbear, People have the right to celebrate the country’s independence. The debate on why fireworks were banned in Seattle is not in dispute here. I’m not saying that shooting off fireworks makes someone a patriot. To the “bad neighbor, bad citizen, and jerk” It’s in the eye of the beholder. More people enjoy fireworks than those who don’t. I see this same thread every year around the 4th of july. Quite frankly you will never get fireworks to stop and the ban is partially hypocritical when the city itself has multiple firework shows. But really, it’s time to stop making these threads yearly and just deal with it. You’re not accomplishing anything by being a female dog just to be a female dog.

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[anonyme]

trim: since we are “female dogs”, I’d sure like to know where you live, so that I can celebrate MY freedom any way that I choose – legal or not. You know, like taking a big crap on your lawn.

Or spray painting your car red, white & blue.

Deal with it.

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[trim]

By female dogs, I meant solely b****ing about it. Considering you are now wanting to cause property damage to someone who is telling you that by b****ing about it every year isn’t helping, well, that’s pretty bad. But I’d seriously like to see you try to do anything like that. You see you’re blowing this all out of proportion, it’s the 4th of july you celebrate it with fireworks. What you’re talking about doing is illegal everywhere, every day of the year and you will go to jail for it. But hey, if people are shooting fireworks off in your lawn (like you said, you would come onto my property to cause property damage) Yeah, go after those suckers.

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[trim]

By female dogs, I meant solely b****ing about it. Considering you are now wanting to cause property damage to someone who is telling you that by b****ing about it every year isn’t helping, well, that’s pretty bad. But I’d seriously like to see you try to do anything like that. You see you’re blowing this all out of proportion, it’s the 4th of july you celebrate it with fireworks. What you’re talking about doing is illegal everywhere, every day of the year and you will go to jail for it. But hey, if people are shooting fireworks off in your lawn (like you said, you would come onto my property to cause property damage) Yeah, go after those suckers.

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[anonyme]

trim, are you friends with Del Griffith?

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[jissy]

Oh my, time to pop some popcorn and pull up a chair!

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[J242]

Trim, what YOU are describing is also illegal here in Seattle every day of the year (setting off fireworks). The city spends a lot of money to put on multiple GIANT fireworks displays not just on July 4th but New Years as well. Why? To entertain and delight everyone, I would imagine it’s also so that we don’t go out and fire bottle rockets that could burn down our neighbor’s property!

We are a tightly packed metropolitan area, even out here in WS. If you somehow have acres of land as property then first, you aren’t living in “Seattle” in the first place and two, your chances of harming or bothering anyone with your personal choice to “blow $#!+ up” isn’t going to have nearly as much effect on those who do live near you.

Get over yourself, you don’t have a “right” to ignite airborne incendiary devices for your own amusement if the people around you say it’s not cool. The city puts on a show for you. If that’s not good enough for you? Drive your ass out to eastern Washington or down to Oregon or wherever else you can find that doesn’t have a problem with it. You’re in no place to be criticizing the people here when the LAW strictly forbids the actions you want to take and it also just pisses everyone off.

Or, you could wear a giant print out of your driver’s license when you choose to set off fireworks illegally so it’s easier to make sure you get ticketed/fined/held accountable for your choices. Your call…

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[J242]

PS Trim, you wouldn’t even know a person defecated on your lawn unless you had witnessed it happening. Even then, the only hassle you’d have to deal with is picking it up in a bag and tossing it in the trash.

Now, compare that to having animals freaking out for days. Seems a little one sided all in all so I’ll just be frank and say how dare you?

If setting off fireworks is so important to you, get off your lazy butt and go somewhere that allows you to set them off. Don’t you dare expect everyone around you to accept your own decisions to irritate and possibly cause harm to the family and pets of others. Who do you think you are?

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[JanS]

and trying to “be nice” whilst calling someone a bitch is making it very personal on here…something the editors have forbidden. There’s a saying among my friends and me…”Just because you can doesn’t mean you should”…it applies to illegal fireworks, it applies to making it personal on here, it applies to having an attitude when you know you are wrong….maybe we all need to pay a little more attention to it…and think before opening your mouth or clicking that “send” button.

Keep it real , folks….play nice.

Oh, and that M-80 thing? They’re very popular…just because you haven’t seen/heard any doesn’t make that true for everyone.

Have a safe, fire-preventing holiday, Trim.

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[J242]

Sorry Jan, but some people like “Trim” need a good verbal slap occasionally. Its far better than letting them go around thinking they have rights the law does not afford them (Which effect everyone around them) even if they don’t pay attention to the comments as this individual obviously is not. One can only hope they heed the information that has been provided to them so they don’t cross the line in the physical world and get a much more direct response.

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[JanS]

and it’s not just dogs…other household pets are affected. Cats can freak…I know from experience….and then this article from the front page today:

Notice the comments about “entitled people”…just like those with fireworks

https://westseattleblog.com/2015/07/abandoned-seal-pup-little-dipper-rescued-from-west-seattle-beach/#comments

and the story within the story:

http://www.blubberblog.org/files/21b7d11a15358bd283fb9a11d9b8fce5-500.html

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[Greystreet]

Our poor 4 year old Golden wouldn’t go outside tonight because of the rauckus in Arbor Heights and the surrounding area. It is a shame there is not better presence to enfore the law, this year I am more worried about my home than my animals, I agree that the A/C, the TV and a radio with white noise can minimize anxiety but a burning ember can’t be stopped with noise distraction. The likelihood of fires this year is scary to me and I just had a good friend’s mom lose her home on Frontenac about 6 weeks ago and that wasn’t from fireworks. Fire is real, it’s dangerous, it’ scary and it’s unpredictable. Be smart everyone, hose down your lawns, roof and especially mulch if it touches your foundation. Godspeed and let’s get through the weekend without nary a scratch :::fingers crossed:::

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[anonyme]

Too late to organize this year, but I have some ideas for how neighbors can be pro-active in stopping this problem, rather than just being passive victims.

I think we could form small neighborhood groups that would walk around and document abusers. No confrontation, just pics & video depicting the activity and the location. If there to be any interaction, I suppose the abuser could be informed that the data would be used as legal documentation in the event of a fire.

It’s pretty clear that our local authorities haven’t enough spine to enforce the law. But a name and shame approach might be somewhat effective, with both officials and lawbreakers, especially if video were posted on YouTube, with copies (and pleas) sent to higher authorities. SPD, for example, minimizes the problem as “a few kids setting off firecrackers”. There needs to be documentary evidence as to how ridiculous this characterization is.

dunno, lots more to think about, but feel we need to start somewhere. I’ll be out by myself tonight taking snapshots and notes. For now, off to work & hoping I have a house to come home to.

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[JoB]

anonyme

i think it will take an actual house fire and a lawsuit to turn this around.. people just don’t seem to realize there are consequences unless they see someone like them pay the price..

i just hope the house that burns isn’t mine.

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[Author]

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