Fireworks after the 4th

[baily]

It is now 2 days after the "dreading 4th of July in the Acreage", where there are no rules about fireworks. Every year I change our 6 horses routines to daytime turnout. I think of all of the animals out here and no rules about scaring their whole beings apart. Tonight, my husband and I are coming home from dinner and I see BIG fireworks being shot off on our street. I literally jump out of the truck as we pull in the driveway to see 3 of our horses running like maniacs around the pasture, scared out of their minds. I am soooo tired of not having a law out here to protect our animals!
PlEASE give me input of what  to do, anyone, if there is anything we can do. This really is out of control!  Somehow change need to happen! AS I sit here I STILL here fireworks at 10:00pm.

[pell7290]

I have always found calling the police and the fire dept.works well   soooo scared the shavings will catch fire !!!

[deb be]

Hang in there and know that your not alone in your angst.   Hopefully your horses didn't hurt themselves or throw any shoes in the fracas.   

All the stuff that goes up in the air and boom or lights up  is illegal.  Its not just in the groves that its the law.  Atleast its been wet this year and the fire hazard alittle bit less.   

How many pets get lost every year due to fireworks? 

And of course its all made in China where they ship us childrens toys that are sometimes laced with lead.  I'd hate to know whats in those fireworks in the air and on the ground afterwards.

Be polite but direct and have a talk with your neighbors.   If they don't own horses they might not understand until you tell them that if your horse breaks out due to their illegal fireworks that you will likely get sued for damages and you will in turn go after them for causing the situation.   

       

 

[mysterypickles]

How about the mortars that sound like giant cannons?? Someone a street away from us was setting those off. My neighbor who has 2 older horses that are usually okay on the 4th were even going insane. My poor boys were totally freaking as well.  She called the police and it stopped very soon after, so I guess they found who was doing it. I dont know why people even enjoy those things, they were SOOOO loud!!

I just absolutely DREAD the 4th, the first year we were here in the Acreage, we didnt realize what we were in for. My 14 hand horse became a stadium jumper that night and jumped our 5 foot fence twice trying to get away from the fireworks! After searching for him for hours (twice!), a kind neighbor with a barn let him stay at their place the rest of the night. It was the more horrific night, and now I'm completely paranoid about that day even though he's better about it now, and he has a "bomb proof" buddy to keep him a little more sane, which helped him a lot, but I still worry since I know the ability is there.

[deb be]

Thank God that  horse didn't get killed or run into a car or overtop of someone.   Had you jumped the horse previously?  wow   Glad that it ended well for you. 

[polomare]

Baily, the "rules" about fireworks are the same in the Acreage as they are in Wellington.  The only difference I can see is that the VOW has big sandwich board signs put up in the equestrian areas every Fourth reminding everybody that they are illegal.

I assume you have an acreage homeowner's association?  Bring it up at the next meeting.  Depending on how fancy you want to go, signs will cost a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars (to put several on main roads throughout the Acreage, I mean)  But that might be something your neighbors, who are as fed up as you are, might be willing to pay for.  If everybody divided the cost, it wouldn't cost that much.  Perhaps a local resident sign maker might even donate time/materials.

Having the rules IN WRITING is a definite deterrent, besides, it gives the cops "backup" when they confront the offenders:
"You SAW the signs saying it was illegal, didn't YOU???"

And if anybody reading this lives in Fox Trail/Deer Run/White Fences and wants to do the same, I'm all ears!  I'm even willing to put up my own cash towards it.  Luckily, it hasn't been too bad out by us last couple of years, but we shouldn't become complacent.  With all the foreclosures out here, I'm sensing an oncoming wave of renters that might not respect our peace & quiet as much as the permanent residents do!

[kk1008]

I am having the same problem i moved my horses for a few days because of the 4 but it was not that bad so i brought them back i guess the guys behind me saved it all for last night my horses went crazy and one had colic this morning i wish there was something we could do

[SaddlebredShowMom]

This is a pervasive problem no matter which equestrian community you live/board in.  We spent the night at our barn because the next door neighbor put on a display last year to rival Macy's -- right along side the barn!   I figured that with all the rain and thunderstorms it'd be a quiet night -- wrong!!  At 8:52 p.m., in the middle of the rain, off went the show.  I immediately called 911 to report it, and let the dispatcher hear everything going off and she told me she could hear it all, and I told her I had a barn full of horses that were going crazy because of it and it was creating a very dangerous situation for both the horses and the handlers with the risk of very serious injury.  They said the sheriff would "make contact" with me after going to the neighbors.  At 9:23 the show ended -- and I never saw 1 cop show up.  At 10:00 the cell phone rang.  It was a Corporal with the PBSO calling to say he was in the area and everything was quiet.  No $hit Sherlock -- where the h3ll were you an hour ago . . . . 

I was worried that it would carry over to Monday night because a lot of people either didn't finish or postponed what they had because of the rain.  Maybe these "leftovers" is what is going on in these other instances.

[deb be]

   Tonight I had only just tidyed up my horses stalls all nice and gave them some hay till my night check later.   It must be 2 streets to the north of me I heard some  going off....  So I got my weedwacker and just went and worked on my fenceline borders in the hopes of drowning them out and getting alittle bit of planned work done at the same time.  Those things make a racket too,   you know by the time I quit no fireworks.....  I guess I worked a good 30 min atleast.   Long enough to get their short attention spans to doing something else.     

[mam]

We have the same problem at our barn.    We left the fans, lights, a radio on and put cotton in their ears.
This seamed to help.

[allieoop]

We were at Jim Brandon having a Barrel show and they were being shot off behind our arena!!!  Some idiots
working at the water utilities dept. behind us were shooting them in their parking lot.  Still going off on our
street, too.  How are fireworks illegal to use but able to be sold?

[polomare]

allieoop-
Because there is a loophole in the law.  They are legal for agricultural purposes.  Farmers are allowed to purchase them to scare birds away from planted fields. 

[deb be]

Don't it make you wonder if any farmers actually use the stuff and how old that law is?  I'll have to google it when I have some time just for curiosity.

When the hydroponic place with all the lovely strawberries was open on Okee.  I wondered how in the world they kept pests out of there,  but thats another subject.

[Coral Reef Riding]

On July 7 around 8:00, my neighbor decided to do a bonfire and set off fireworks.  After 1/2 hour, I called over loudly(scream)  "Are you about done yet"?   THey called back "yes" and I called back  "Good because I am turning out my animals now".   They set off one more that I could have sworn went onto the yard of the people behind them.  Oh well. 

Anyways, sometimes on rare occasions, people will stop doing annoying stuff with kindness.   

[mariam101]

I feel all of your pains. Fortunately, my guys do well with all of the noise.
On a side note, with the cut backs at PBSO there are only 3 deputies to cover the entire acreage-loxahatchee area.

[saddlediva]

While trying to lock up my usually sane horse on July 4th, I was almost trampled. It was a very close call. I went to the edge of my property line and yelled over, "Can you please wait until I get them locked up and then you can do what you want?" Or words to that effect (adreneline was still pounding through me). Neighbor came charging onto my property, swearing, screaming, threw something at me, then drew back his fist to punch me.  I stood my ground and did not show fear. Luckily, I had called 911 and dispatch heard the altercation. My husband pulled me back to the house. Meanwhile, lots of screaming and swearing from next door. When the deputy showed up, I told him I was in fear for my life as I had been threatened, told that I was done for, that my horses are dead, that my barn is going up in smoke, how much poison does he need to buy to kill my horses, etc. I asked for a restraining order because I heard the wife say "Don't get the gun! Give me the gun!" Dept. said, "Did you see the gun?" No. Then I can't do anything, i was told. Because I stood my ground and did not show fear, any judge would laugh me out of the courtroom. Dept. said, "Why didn't you turn around?" "I didn't want a bullet in the back!" "Well, you could have walked backwards." Since then, I'm down the barn every night, there has been constant harrassment, last night the teenage son parked his car in my driveway, blaring music, then backed all the way up to my truck, revved the engine then spun the wheels, spraying gravel all over my truck. They haven't been arrested, I've been told by Dept. to stay in my house, I can't even go to my aunt's funeral. Neighbor put up a big, floodlit sign saying, Guard your pets, suspected cat killer next door! What's wrong with this picture? I called 911 a dozen times for nothing but to live in fear!

[polomare]

Saddlediva,

First let me extend my heartfelt condolences for your difficult situation.  I empathize 100%.  My next door neighbors here in Fox Trail (a supposedly equestrian neighborhood, so don't think this is an "Acreage" problem) are self-proclaimed horse haters and have threatened my horses' health and safety many times.  Both in words to my face and with their actions.  So, I know what it is like to live in nauseating fear that the next terrorist attack could occur at any time.  I live next door to what literally amounts to a revolving-door nightclub that is open 24/7, 52 weeks a year.  I get a steady diet of profane vulgarity, trashy music, terrifying noise and blood-curdling screams all night long every weekend and every holiday.  And unbelievable amounts of traffic even on weekdays.  Admittedly, he's been better lately.  But only because I've taken him to court.  Twice.

The second thing I am going to say to you, you are not going to like.  But take it from someone who has been down your road.  You need to get a lawyer.  Now.  Have the attorney write them a certified letter clearly iterating the assaults you described here and have the lawyer tell them in black and white what the legal consequences will be for such continued behavior (be it criminal, civil, whatever).  The letter is not meant to be threatening.  It is very neutral "You do A, and consequences will be B. Period."  If the situation escalates, you will be very, very glad you have this letter later on.

Doc.ument everything.  ALWAYS ask for a case# (which police are reluctant to provide, because it means more paperwork for them) after every time you call the police.  If they flatly refuse to open a case, then you are entitled by law to an "incident number".  Which is basically the 911 call log and the desk sergeant's notes proving that you called 911.  I can give you the phone number for PBSO's administrative offices if you can't find it yourself.

Mark everything on the calendar, calls you made to 911, calls/meetings with your attorney, altercations with them, shouts over the fenceline, etc. 

Get security cameras.  Wireless ones are dirt cheap now.  $200 will get you two decent night vision cameras and a receiver from Brandsmart.  So, at least you can keep an eye on things from the house.  For about $500 more you can get a harddrive to record what the cameras broadcast, which of course is 100 times better than not recording, but just the presence of non-recording cameras with red blinking lights can be a helpful deterrent.


I don't know what it is about fireworks, but it seems people who are attracted to excessive fireworks activity tend to be aggressive criminal types.  I know this is a little OT, but when researching my own case against my neighbor, I was very interested to discover that there have been many scientific studies done that clearly show that exposure to excessive noise leads to expression of violent behavior.  One very interesting statistic I came across is from the Pt St Lucie Sheriff's office.  They have a strict "no boom car noise" law within the city limits of Pt St Lucie.  In 2009, they handed out 180 citations to boom car noise offenders.  Of those 180 tickets, 100% of the offenders were found to have previous criminal records (not just previous traffic tickets).  This statistic alone, solidifies my opinion that cracking down on fireworks offenders and noise ordinance violaters could only benefit society as whole tremendously.  Exposure to fireworks explosions is the same as exposure to booming bass from music.  It raises people's adrenaline and their aggression level.  That's why this is such a hot issue.

I've said it before, I'll say it again.  Fireworks and noise ordinance violations need to be ticketable offenses (just like a speeding ticket).  Currently, it is just a "civil matter" that you need to sue for to get the people to stop.  That's useless.

Again, I feel your pain and wish you a peaceful resolution to this problem.
PM me any time if there is anything I can do to help.

[saddlediva]

Thank you, Polomare and others who have offered support. Everything is being doented. Every day starts with a fresh sheet of paper with the date. Then, when the harassment starts I write down the time, what is happening, duration of problem, what time police were called, when they arrive, etc..... Yesterday, we found an 8-inch circular saw blade that had been thrown with such force it was half buried in the lawn my husband was just about to mow. Our friend Jim was with us at the time. He's a former Marine, cop, Iraq war vet, etc. He shook his head and said, "Well, looks like he means business." So, police were called again. I get a business card from each deputy and a copy of the report. Only once have I accepted an incident number---I want lots and lots of paperwork from each responding deputy as well as their cards. I always shake their hand and thank them for coming out "because I am in fear of my life, as well as my husband's and my animals." Neighbor was driven out of WPB 8-9 months ago because of signs ALL COPS SHOULD BE DEAD and son's sign I'M A FUTURE COP KILLER. WPB cops sat outside his house 24/7, sometimes 3 or 4 cruisers at a time. WPB detective told me, "He is dangerous, he will hurt you. Be careful." Lack of sleep is debilitating, but I find the constant pacing that I'm doing to be good excercise. Thank you all for your many offers of help and support. Thanks, Susan.

[deb be]

Don't forget to involve your good neighbors for extra witnesses and they may have stuff to share with you too of their experiences.

[saddlediva]

When my good neighbors called police, response time was much faster. Things have been quieter since the  last deputy went over there and told them he was going to arrest someone pretty soon and it wasn't going to be me. Still hyper-vigilant, though. I am not letting my guard down. Your support means the world to me. Thank you all.