Have you read the paper lately with all the forest fires throughout the United States right now? If you have then you would know there are a lot and many acres of our land have been burned. Land was not the only thing lost, as many homes were destroyed by these fires too. In some of these homes were people and pets, and they suffered smoke inhalation. When this happens the fire fighters utilize oxygen masks to administer oxygen to the recipient to aid in breathing until their breathing returns to normal. Now when there are pets involved the fire fighters do what they can with the resources they have. They try to take a human mask and hold it near the snout of the animal to aid them in breathing. These human masks don’t work as well as actual pet masks.
Most fire stations do not have within their budget to buy these pet mask kits. Therefore there is a group called Wag’N Enterprises that has created a program called O2 Fur Life. They get donations for the pet masks and then donate them to the needing fire stations for their fire trucks. Ines de Pablo said, “I saw an article in 2008 about pet oxygen masks and realized just how important it was and the great need for them on the trucks.” She created Wag’N to be the go-to business for anything pet-safety related and felt the O2 Fur Life program would fit right in. The main donors are businesses and organizations but there are individuals and even schools can donate. It is all for saving the lives of people’s pets when they are in danger from a fire.
Each oxygen kit includes the following:
- Three masks for different size animals. There is a small, medium and large which can work on dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and even foals.
- Three oxygen air tubes
- Carry bag
- Laminated instruction sheet
- Leash to help restrain in necessary
- When buying or donating the kits they also include for the emergency responder: decals to place on the trucks, a PowerPoint presentation for training, an instructional DVD, 2 animal incident report forms for 1st Responders and a pet rescue notice form.
The kits are $90 for consumers and $65 for emergency personnel and fire departments. As per their site, “Wag’N Enterprises doesn’t turn a profit from providing the oxygen masks to fire/emergency departments. The masks that are sold to emergency responders are sold at cost, whereas the masks that are sold to consumers are sold at a slight markup. But the profits from those masks go right back into the foundation so the money may be used to provide masks for other emergency responders.” This way the ones that do not have a budget for such a necessary item, can hopefully be provided one from the donations and profits of the sales. There are three ways to purchase: Direct method for the first responders, sponsor/gift purchase for those wanting to provide a set for their first responders in their area and the fellowship program. This program is for the first responders do not have it in their budget to purchase them and no supporters to gift it to them, they can apply for the fellowship program. When the Wag’N Enterprises raises enough funds, they then will sponsor them with a kit.
Wag’N Enterprises have helped emergency responders in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Since 2008 at the launch of O2 Fur Life, they have provided 2,033 oxygen kits in 853 different departments. This number grows annually as in 2008 they only distributed 16 kits. Then in 2009 they sent out 159 kits and in 2010 they sent out a whopping 1,204 kits. This is a hot topic for many and one that is in great need for every fire truck or ambulance that administers oxygen. Some fire trucks are not set up for oxygen therefore the ambulance that attends fires would be the likely choice for the pet oxygen masks.
When asked about the most memorable pet mask save, Ines de Pablo said, “A puppy that was saved from a house fire in Missouri back in March 2010.” Captain Paul Spain of the Kennett Fire department in Kennett, MO sent her a letter with pictures showing how they saved a puppy that was suffering from smoke inhalation and shock. See the article here.
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