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Gift may be a lifesaver for furry fire victims
By WALTER DAWKINS
The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
When firefighters enter burning homes, they don’t only find people who need help: Last year, more than 40,000 dogs and cats reportedly died from smoke inhalation in house fires nationwide.
To help pets breathe a little easier, a Connecticut-based boarding and grooming company is distributing special oxygen masks made for dogs, cats and other furry friends.
“Some firefighters have told us that human oxygen masks are so ineffective that they will actually try to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when they’re dealing with a pet,” said Debra Bennetts, spokeswoman for Best Friends Pet Care, which has locations across the country.
“Human oxygen masks because of their shape are not effective in providing oxygen to a family dog or cat in the case of a home fire,” she added.
On Wednesday, the Tri-Boro Volunteer Ambulance Corps - which serves Park Ridge, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake - received 18 of the special masks, donated as part of the company’s Cause for Paws Campaign.
The masks come in three sizes: feline, for a cat or other small pet, such as a rabbit or a guinea pig; small canine, such as a poodle or cocker spaniel; and large canine, such as a Great Dane or Rottweiler.
Each has a rubber ring that creates a seal, allowing rescuers to pump pure oxygen through a tube from a tank and into the animal’s nose and mouth.
The devices offer peace of mind to both pet lovers and emergency workers, said Kelly Kurash, manager of the Best Friends Pet Care locations in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., and North Plainfield.
“The owners can feel a little bit more relief that their pets will receive the proper care that they need,” said Kurash, who demonstrated the masks’ use with the help of her 7-year-old Rottweiler, Ike. “And the firefighters will know that they have the proper equipment.”
Bennetts said that pets have a much greater risk of smoke inhalation than humans.
“When the smoke alarm goes off in your house, people know to evacuate,” she said. “But pets tend to hide because they’re frightened, which means they remain in the dwelling a lot longer and, so, are exposed to more smoke.”
Pets also are more likely to be home alone during the day while their owners are at work. Firefighters don’t always know that they’re inside.
“What often happens is that by the time the pet is rescued from the home, they are very lethargic because they have inhaled a lot of smoke,” Bennetts said.
Kurash raised the money for the masks through donations at the Best Friends’ Chestnut Ridge location, which she said the parent company matched dollar-for-dollar.
In the past year and a half, the program has outfitted more than 35 communities in southern and central New Jersey with the pet masks. Around the country, Best Friends has distributed more than 1,500 sets of donated masks to 350 fire departments in 18 states.
“We’re in the business of taking care of people’s pets at our facilities and this is sort of an extension of our belief about the role of pets in the family,” Bennetts said.
Tri-Boro Captain Marion Roe, who got her 4-year-old Labrador mix, Taffy, from an animal shelter, expressed her gratitude.
“If something ever happened to my house, I would feel so much better knowing that everything that could possibly be done for Taffy would be done for her,” Roe said. “It’s a very generous donation on their part.”