http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-pets1feb08,0,244900.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Monica Amore
Special Correspondent
February 8, 2005
NORWALK -- When the Norwalk Fire Department rescues a dog or cat suffering from smoke inhalation, firefighters hold a tube hooked to an oxygen tank under the animal's snout to get it air.
But this technique, known as a "blow-by," will likely end in Norwalk after the department received eight sets of pet oxygen masks.
"It's just another thing we can do to benefit the public," firefighter Adam Markowitz said at a demonstration of the masks yesterday morning.
The masks were donated by Best Friends Pet Care, which owns a chain of pet resorts around the country, including one on Main Avenue in Norwalk.
Each mask set costs about $50, and contains a mask for a small dog, a large dog and a cat. The rescue masks, which are made of clear, hard plastic, fit over the animal's snout and attach to an oxygen tank.
Sue Sullivan, manager of Best Friends Pet Resort, showed 20 firefighters and department staff how to use the oxygen masks on two large dogs -- Scarlet, a golden retriever mix, and Sequoyah, a German shepherd and Great Dane mix -- in the lounge of the Volk Fire Station on Connecticut Avenue.
Deputy Chief William Perkins, who will lead the pet oxygen mask training, said training had been conducted before but only with make-shift models.
"It's nice to have the right tools for the right job," he said.
The mask sets were purchased with donations made to the Best Friends Pet Care "Cause for Paws" program, which supports the cost of pet oxygen masks for fire departments. The program matches donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Deb Bennetts, spokeswoman for Best Friends Pet Care, said the company donated masks to departments in Michigan, New Jersey and the Carolinas, and has seen cases in which "the masks were donated and a week later put to use to rescue a pet in a home fire."
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