In the UK, it is estimated that over 46% of households have a pet. There are approximately 40,000 house fires a year and pets are therefore frequently caught up in fires and become victims of smoke inhalation. The UK charity Smokey Paws aims to prevent pets dying from smoke inhalation. They are providing the Fire services with specially designed oxygen masks for pets to enable swift re-oxygenation and resuscitation when pets are caught up in fires. The life-saving masks are available in three sizes, the largest for dogs, a medium version for cats and little dogs and the smallest for pets like guinea pigs, rats and hamsters.
So far 16 fire stations have received the masks which have been entirely funded by charitable donations and the charity hopes to equip every station in the country.
The charity was created by Lynn Carberry and her husband Brian Lockyer, from Weston-super-Mare after Mrs Carberry, realised that unlike her home in the US, where all fire stations are equipped with pet-sized oxygen masks, the UK fire services didn’t have anything for pets.
Jon Brown, station manager at Avon Fire and Rescue, the first station to receive the masks, revealed: “We can be asked to search a smoke-filled house for an animal and when we find it, it may be unconscious and not breathing. In some cases pets are can be affected by smoke much quicker than humans. This new equipment means we have special masks to use on dogs and cats which may need oxygen. A few minutes can be the difference between life and death so the sooner we can give oxygen the better and this equipment allows us to do this.”
It makes sense and Yvonne (one of our first aid trainers) demonstrates the Smokey Paws masks on our first aid for dogs courses – hence you can see one of our course dogs modelling it!
People can nominate their local fire station and make donations via the Smokey Paws website.
Hi, I was wondering if you had a contact for the charity Smokey Paws? I am looking at setting up some oxygen therapy kits for pets here in New Zealand for the fire service.
Kind regards,
Matt