Earlier this month, Bristol Fire Company 51 received a donation from Project Breathe, which will allow four legged members of the community to breathe a little easier now.
The donation by Invisible Fence Brand for four Project Breathe of pet oxygen mask kits will help the company “serve the community better,” Fire Chief Herb Slack said.
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“We’ve always made a point to try and rescue pets from emergency scenes, but we didn’t have the necessary medical equipment if a dog or cat suffered injuries. Now we will be able to assist in their care until further veterinary services can be received,” the chief said.
Each kit contains oxygen masks in three sizes—small, medium and large—so they can be used on dogs of all sizes. While there are no formal statistics by the U.S. Fire Administration on how many pets die each year in fires, Invisible Fence Brand estimates the total to be between 40,000 and 150,000. Most of these pets die from smoke inhalation, which is why the oxygen masks are so important.
Members of the fire company trained on how to use the masks through a video presentation at the fire house. The public was invited also to take park in the training.
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Slack said the fire company submitted a request for the oxygen mask kits donation and was notified in the spring that it would receive life sustaining equipment for the four legged friends in the Bristol community.
To date, Invisible Fence Brand has donated over 10,000 masks to fire companies throughout the United States.
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“We want to be able to help everyone in the community, whether they’ve got two legs or four,” Slack said. “It’s hard enough for families to recover when a fire happens, but grieving over the loss of a pet at that time makes the situation even worse.”
