Students at Ann Mullen Middle School in New Jersey have donated sets of animal resuscitation masks to fire department companies in a New Jersey township.
The Erial, Lambs Terrace and Blackwood fire companies in Gloucester Township received resuscitation masks specially designed for cats and dogs last week, thanks to the generosity of students and a matching donation from a kennel chain.
The Mullen students raised money for the purchase of three pet masks as part of the Best Friends Cause for Paws Campaign, an initiative started last year to outfit fire vehicles with the life-saving tools.
The masks operate like human oxygen masks and attach to standard oxygen tanks that emergency vehicles carry, the company said. They are cone-shaped to fit over an animal's snout and come in three sizes -- large canine, small canine and feline. Each set of three costs $50.
During the past holiday season, the students sold dog bones stuffed in homemade stockings and raised $150 for the campaign, paying for three sets of masks. The donation was matched by Best Friends Pet Care, a national kennel chain, for a total of six sets.
Pets are at a greater risk than their owners of suffering smoke inhalation during a home fire because they hide rather than leave the house, the company said. Each year more than 40,000 family pets die in home fires, according to Best Friends Pet Care.
Posted: June 13, 2006, 5:00 a.m. EST