Pet owners rage at late night fireworks display for Wick wedding – 'Shocking and inconsiderate'

Some local pet owners were incensed about a late evening fireworks event in Wick the day after the well-publicised Gala Week bonfire night.

The display was connected to a wedding party at one of the town's hotels on Sunday and took place at the boating shed by Wick river.

When various images of the display were shared on social media some local people said they were not too pleased about it with one saying: "Looks great but the sheer damage it causes to animals and the litter left behind is not worth it. People can be so selfish."

Another local woman wrote: "So for a few bangs and some lights in the sky loads of dogs, cats, horses and birds have to be petrified. Shocking and inconsiderate."

Amanda Bruce who lives on West Banks Terrace, some distance from the river, sent a video showing her dog Arthur being consoled about an hour after the event.

She said she had no problem with the Gala Week fireworks event the night before as it was well-publicised. "The fact that there was fireworks set off at 10.30pm on a Sunday night and no warning to pet owners," had particularly angered her, she said.

Another local woman, who did not wish to be named, said she heard that a cat had "bolted with the fireworks" and disappeared for a while but eventually returned home. She said that her six-year-old Chihuahua called Jack was "petrified, trembling and desperately trying to hide".

She told the paper: "If we had been warned then I could have done what I did on Bonfire Night, drove out to the country in the car. As soon as the first bang went, Jack bolted to find somewhere to hide. He lay trembling and no amount of petting or cuddling helped him. I turned the TV up so loud but he could still hear them. I wrapped him in a blanket and held him. It was after 1am before he settled a bit."

The woman said she had heard that the event was connected with a wedding at Mackays Hotel that day and that the hotel should have had "the decency to inform the public".

"Mackays Hotel said they thought the guests had sparklers. What rubbish, they would've known the full plans. Just pure ignorant."

Ellie Lamont from Mackays Hotel said that the hotel did not organise the firework celebration and was upset to hear about the issues from local pet owners.

She told the paper: "I am sorry to hear animals were upset by the fireworks and as dog owners ourselves we can sympathise with the owners of pets who were affected. However, Mackays didn’t organise the fireworks. We are disappointed to see the remarks and comments on Facebook, particularly those encouraging others to post false bad reviews.

"We’d like to think our 40 years of owning the hotel and involvement in other local activity has shown our consideration for the community."

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