Defying a crackdown on illegal fireworks, citizens across T&T played a New Year's Eve cat and mouse game with the police, releasing scratch bombs and noisemakers to ring in 2017.
Some citizens said it appeared the devices were noisier and the only difference from previous years was that instead of a prolonged night the period was shorter.
Officials of the Animal 360 Foundation said they got reports of five dead dogs on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway between Valsayn and Trincity alone, adding they believed this unusually large number was related to fireworks use.
"Tunapuna Pasea, very loud noises in the neighbourhood," a resident posted on Animal 360's Facebook page.
"In Barataria, some difficult areas still difficult. The children in the area are using scratch bombs while the midnight firecrackers are going off incessantly from all directions. No police patrolling to catch them in the act," another citizen posted.
A Maloney resident told the T&T Guardian: "There was no decrease in fireworks up here this year. This year was quite annoying, even worse.
"There was an upgrade in the potency of fireworks. Some burst so loudly the walls literally vibrated like it was a mini bomb blast."
An officer at the West End Station, asked if there was a decrease in the use of fireworks in that area, replied: "Absolutely not. In fact, there seems to have been a modification on the fireworks that bang out extremely loudly. They got louder."
He said officers from the station did patrols and road blocks and met people who complained about the noise but no official reports were made and there were no arrests.
In the Sou Sou Land area of Carlson Field, an elderly couple complained that the fireworks noise was "worse this year".
The 68-year old wife said up to yesterday afternoon her ears still felt clogged from the noise.
"My head is hurting. I didn't sleep. They were going competition from house to house. They must have spent about $1/4 million in fireworks in this small village alone. I don't know where people getting all this money to burn in this recession,"she said.
Officers at the Longdenville police station said they got several noise reports but no one was detained in that area either.
"They see the police vehicle miles away with its big, blue flashing lights," said an officer who noted, though, that there seemed to have been a decrease in the amount of fireworks used.
"It could have been fear of being charged. People would have been sceptical to buy them," he said,
Residents from other areas said there an improvement in the noise intensity and amount of fireworks being released, while police officers claimed it was quiet in some areas. Officers at the St Barb's Police Post in Laventille said no one complained about noiseand no arrests were made. A Valencia police officer said: "It was quiet here. No detainees." Arima police said they had "some complaints" but no one was detained.
Roger Marshall, founder of the Animal 360 Foundation, said: "Last night (New Year's Eve) was very bad but it was not an entire night of prolonged explosions. It was a shorter period."
He said Animal 360 got reports of the police stopping and warning people and driving through areas. He said his NGO will be hand delivering recommendations for strengthening fireworks legislation to Attorney General Faris al Rawi early tomorrow morning.