RELUCTANTLY or not, we’re at the point in the year where the nights are really beginning to draw in, the air is turning crisp, and the skies over towns and villages across Ireland will soon begin to crackle with colour.

For many, fireworks are a joyful spectacle; for animals, they can be a source of real distress. Whether you share your home with a dog, a cat, or a stableyard of horses, it’s our responsibility to prepare them for the bangs and flashes that so often arrive without warning.