Each year, I mean to write this letter in the hope that it will be seen by others and taken to heart. The Fourth of July is not a happy day in my household. You see, I share my home with three rescue dogs who cower and shake at the sound of fireworks. They won’t go out to relieve themselves and they are visibly terrified by the crackles and booms of the surrounding cacophony.
These dogs are like my children, and I love and care for them deeply. Wellington feels that its equestrian community deserves to be protected from this annual auditory assault. There are many large signs posted around the village warning of the illegality of fireworks in equestrian areas. However, the other sensitive companion animals in Wellington are roundly ignored. Is it money or political influence that protects the horses yet leaves thousands of dogs to cower in their owners’ closets?
Whatever the reasons, the existing statutes outlawing the sale and use of most of these fireworks is completely ignored. My neighbors, good people most of them, are out until past 11 p.m. gleefully “disturbing the peace” with no consideration or concern for those who may be dealing with illness, trying to sleep, or just enjoying a good book or TV show. The Fourth of July seems to give everyone a free pass to be a jerk for a night. The cops don’t care either.
Well, I do care, and I’d bet that there are many like me who suffer through this annual insult feeling helpless and frustrated. It’s not your right to keep me and my family awake listening to your illegally purchased cherry bombs blasting until midnight and beyond. Nor is it an intelligent tradition for dads to teach their kids the proper way to light a fuse without losing a finger in the process.
If you crave a fireworks display, your tax dollars are already paying for elaborate and expensive public fireworks extravaganzas each and every year. Please take your kids to see the pros at your city’s municipal show. Stop terrorizing the rest of us… the silent majority.
Dr. Elliott Krakow, Wellington
I’ll stop celebrating my freedom once a year if you agree to remove the vocal cords of your dogs so I don’t have to listen to their barking the rest of the year.