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Residents donate life-saving devices for dogs
It was not only residents who needed rescued on June 28 when firefighters arrived at a structure fire in Franklin Township.
The family’s two dogs were brought out in sheets. “When I saw them they were next to our engine and were pretty much lifeless,” said Mark Kidd, Franklin Township assistant fire chief. “One of the guys asked me, ‘What should we do?’” Fortunately, the medics had canine oxygen non-rebreather masks. “One of them got an IV (and) both got oxygen, and EMT’s on the scene were able to revive them,” Kidd said. Fire Chief Richard Howard said no other injuries were reported and both dogs returned home. “The only thing they had to show was singed hair,” Howard said. After hearing about the incident, Deana Edwards, office manager at Healthy Pets of Westgate, wanted to help. Edwards secured four canine masks and donated them to the township. The masks were placed in the medic units and given to Howard and Kidd to carry in their cars. “The donations all come from our clients,” Edwards said. Canine masks have a short shelf life, due to frightened dogs chewing them, or traumatized dogs becoming ill and vomiting into them, Howard said. About 10 years ago Healthy Pets created the Good Samaritan fund, which goes toward emergency treatment of animals dropped off at the clinic. Edwards said once an animal is treated, the staff finds them homes. “One time we used those funds to treat a kitten hit by a train,” Edwards said. The kitten recovered and was adopted.
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