Fireworks

Mariposa

Mariposa

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I am absolutely fuming - so apologies for this rant but I need to vent!

Our neighbour took it upon himself to have a massive firework display on Saturday night, and set off over 30 minutes of fireworks. We live in a rural area, his property is moments from fields of livestock including sheep, horses ( ours and the livery yard across the way) and cattle.

He gave no warning of this firework display - first we knew of it was the bangs and flashes. Our dogs were petrified, my horses ( 4 polo ponies) lost the plot and were tearing around in the dark - it was sheer luck that they didn't go through the electric tape/fences, and didn't injure themselves ( bar a few scrapes and an overreach), but were all in a muck sweat from galloping. Our neighbour's dog was so scared it wet itself, our lurchers were hiding under the table shaking, and the sheep were all cowering in the further corner. On Sunday morning we found rockets IN our field, they'd sent them all over our direction - straight into the field of horses.

I am no kill joy, but have we been given any notice we could have bought in the ponies or moved them to a further field, out of harm's way, in such a small community you need to take everyone into consideration. To point rockets into a field of livestock is just downright dangerous. We have the rockets that we found ( one even landed on our other neighbours roof) - what if one had landed ON a horse ( or sheep?!)

Now - would you report this guy to the police? I don't trust myself to go and have a word with him as I'll probably say something I'll regret - what would you do?
 
What do the other affected neighbours think? And is fireworks bloke a local or an incomer who maybe doesn't realise what the risks are? Do you normally get on with him? Somebody certainly needs to have words with him but involving the police seems a bit heavy handed.
 
I would think the police wouldn't be interested (unless you offer free donuts), but I would certainly be making a noise to the council, especially as the rockets were fired over your property.
 
Does the person who set off the fireworks know anything about livestock at all?

If they don't I'd be inclined to have a word and ask that in future they please give you (and neighbours) some notice so that you can make appropriate arrangements for the animals.

If they are fully aware of the dangers of fireworks aimed at livestock then I'd be tempted to fire some equally large fireworks directly at their property.

Luckily over the years I've been able to do a lot of work with mine to de sensitise them to fireworks (appreciate that not everyone can) but even so if I found that sort of thing in my fields I would be livid.
 
I'd explain the problems and make it clear that if they dont give notice in future you will hold them responsible for any vets bills. Also make it clear that you would have been supportive and accomodating if they had given notice
 
I'm not sure this is a police incident.

Certainly this person has been rude and inconsiderate, possibly through ignorance rather than deliberate - but either way they need to be aware of their actions.

It may be best to approach them via a letter if you think you might loose your temper in a face-to-face. Just outline the situation, your concerns over what might have happened, say you are prepared to draw a line under it this time but in future they should advise if they are going to repeat the fireworks - if they do not advise then you will hold them liable for damages and will raise it with the parish council.
 
I found the very sharp plastic remains of a large firework in one of my paddocks yesterday. Thankfully there were no signs of ponies panicking, but I was not impressed with how sharp the remnants were, that would have caused damage had they trodden on it/tried eating it! Maybe you could write the offender a letter, that way you can get it all out of your system, then revise it to sound slightly nicer and don't have to face them directly.
 
If the person concerned isn't familiar with the dangers of fireworks near horses, you might find some of the advice and downloadable leaflets useful here: http://www.horseaccidents.org.uk/Advice_and_Prevention/Fireworks.aspx.

We'd also strongly encourage you to make a report on our online form on the same website - it's straightforward and shouldn't take long. Every report we get is crucial to helping us make positive changes for all.
 
Exact same thing happened to me last year, neighbours set off massive display over our paddocks and i had stressed horses and one dog who went missing for 24 hours (she ran in panic) nothing can be done as they really don't care. Now we just keep a vigilent eye out as they've already told us very clearly that they don't need to keep us informed. Nice.
 
Thanks all - feedback much appreciated. The neighbour in question does not have livestock, so could be that they didn't realize the danger ( although to be frank it's common sense surely?) They don't have any pets either- so I guess they might not have realized how scared some pets can get?

And agreed, it might be heavy handed of me to report it to the police, taking a step back and seeing it through other people's eye I can appreciate that. I think I'll download that leaflet, and send it, although with a note to them - then I can't lose my rag and tell them exactly what I think of them ( which is pretty unprintable..!) Our other neighbour (the ones with the rocket on their roof) is livid, so many we could both sign the letter.

I guess at least there were no major injuries, it's just the 'what if' which is running through my head!
 
Having had this sort of thing happen to us I feel your pain.
The popularity of 'escaping to the countryside ' we found means more and more rural areas are filling up with people who don't know how the countryside works!
I have no problem with people moving to the country but would hope they would take the trouble to ask the ways of the countryside .
We also had a problem with firework parties which seemed to occur on everyones birthday anniversary new year Christmas as well as for a good 2 weeks over November 5th.
Lound music and strobe lighting in a garden for a party freaked my horses out and didn't stop even when I went around and asked them to tone it down.
A bouncy castle that appeared right on the field boundary fence one day when I was at work ,a marquee filled an adjouning garden no notice.
I spoke to all the neighbours and asked them to let us know as did other livestock owners but many people felt as it was their garden they could do what they liked and didn't need to tell anone else.
Perhaps we were unlucky but a small village turned from a rural haven to a commuter village empty during the day and a lot of people who weren't interested in a country way of life.
I did contact the neighbour hood watch co-ordinater and ased if they could keep people informed of what was happening locally the cause was helped when someone was burgled whislt they were involved with a noisy party in the garden loads of people was sufficient cover for someone to access the house and take jewellery and cash..
We eventually moved away to really really rural area with no near neighbours helped by the fact we had recently both retired so didn't need to commute to work.
 
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We have problems with them too, dogs go mad and although no physical injuries I have a dog that is noise phobic thanks to people letting off bangers during daylight hours and there is no "safe" time as they go off any time night or day from October through to January the following year and some weekends during the summer, we've had loud industrial type fireworks going off at 3 am many times!
 
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