The annual Fireworks Over The River was held at Anzac Park, across the Manawatu River. Private displays weeks after Guy Fawkes are not so welcome.

Palmerston North's pet-loving city councillors want to impose restrictions on when people can let off their fireworks.

But mayor Grant Smith opposes the move, worried about the council getting a reputation as "the fun police".

Private fireworks displays continuing late into the night a month after Guy Fawkes prompted councillors at a planning and policy committee meeting to ask if they could write a bylaw restricting the practice.

Fireworks: Boom or bust? Share your stories, photos and videos. Contribute

The council is preparing to review its Nuisance Bylaw, which will be narrowed down to focus on fire controls in the urban area.

Cr Susan Baty raised the possibility of including fireworks controls in the bylaw after another late-night disturbance that set the neighbourhood dogs barking.

She was backed up by Cr Lew Findlay, who said just as the period during which people could buy fireworks was limited, there should be a limited season for letting them off as well.

"In our area of town it seems to happen every second night, and it's getting later and setting off the dogs."

Cr Aleisha Rutherford said her cats hated fireworks, and she thought it was worth investigating whether some restrictions could be imposed.

Smith said he was concerned about the council trying to regulate against people having fun.

"Why must we be first with everything? The Government is going to do something about this, it is just a matter of time."

But Baty said she was not against fun.

She just wanted to see some balance between some people's fun, and the harm and distress it caused pets and their owners.

The Fire Service would not comment on the value of the councillors' proposition.

Senior communications adviser Peter Riordan said the service was more concerned about who set off fireworks and how they handled them, rather than when they did it.

"The Fire Service favours professionally organised public displays rather than the backyard use of fireworks. Such displays maximise spectator safety and minimise the risk of fire," he said.

But Manawatu SPCA manager Danny Auger said the councillors should be commended for looking for ways to limit the harm of fireworks.

"I don't know if they have the power to do this, but if your local council is even thinking along these lines, that's forward thinking."

Auger said restricting the time frame for the sale and purchase of fireworks was not working to reduce their use during the year.

He said the SPCA had not been called to incidents of animals being injured as a consequence of backyard fireworks this year, but there had been plenty of reports of missing cats.

"People expect cats can always find their way home, but if they have shot off because of fear, they kind-of lose their radar and get lost."

Auger said life would be much easier for pet owners if they knew there was a fireworks season when they could manage to keep their animals indoors, knowing that it would come to an end and they would be able to relax.

Council policy analyst Peter Ridge said he did not know whether the council had the power to make and enforce a bylaw restricting the use of fireworks, but would investigate and report back.