TODAY is November 5, the day we celebrate the failure of Guido Fawkes and his associates to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Bonfires blaze and fireworks explode overhead four our entertainment, but this year there has been more concern then ever before about the effect of these noisy celebrations on animals, particularly on our pets.

Many will have seen the Twitter video of a lurcher-type dog, lying on its side and quivering with fear at the unexpected noise.

Small children can be scared by loud noises too, but one can explain to them that there is nothing harmful abut the noise from a firework display, and most of them will grow up to enjoy them.

But you can’t explain to an animal. The best you can do is try to comfort it, and at this time of the year, the RSPCA and other bodies offer advice about drawing curtains, putting on music to help conceal the noise, and so on.

So is the answer to ban fireworks altogether? Some say that this would be the right course to take, but the advocates of the view are ignoring the real pleasure that many human beings take in firework displays, which for centuries have been a spectacular addition to many forms of celebrations.

Rather more compelling is the case for ending the sale of fireworks to members of the public, and liniting their use to professional pyrotechnicians in organised displays.

This would mean that animal owners would at least know when and where the disturbances will occur, giving them the option of temporary moving the animal away for the area of the display, or taking other measures to reduce its fright.

Such a ban would also have positive health and safety implications; according to official figures, 4,506 people visited hospital accident and emergency departments in 2014-2015 for treatment of fireworks-related injuries.

After a ban on sales to the public, this figure can quite confidently be expected to fall to near zero.

Banning things that people like is not usually a particularly edifying and enlightening course of action.

But in this case, it just might be the right thing to do, alleviating a good deal of fear in our pets and anxiety in their owners, while allowing fireworks to remain part of our lives..