Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Rescue Me

Jake will sleep better at night

Thanks to the generosity of three of Amherst Firefighter Bill Dunn's  Facebook buddies -- Doug Frederick, "K9 Diezel" of the University of Massachusetts Police Department and a caring Anon animal lover from Northampton -- the Amherst Fire Department now has on order three oxygen mask kits designed to fit man's best friend (as well as felines, birds, and rabbits).

Amherst is home to about 1,400 dogs and most --if not all -- are treated like family.  The only thing worse than losing all your possessions in a major structure fire is losing a member of your family.

This purchase gives our first responders one more tool to help preserve that which is sacred:  life.


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is great news! And as someone who walks my dog in downtown Amherst regularly I wish they would use paw-safe salt on the sidewalks in the future. It is a bit more expensive but it will stop the burning the dogs get on their paws during and after walks. (and now shoes are not an option for my dog)

Anonymous said...

I want to offer my sincere thanks to all who stepped up to make this happen. To some this may not seem like a big deal but to those who have close bonds with their animal companions this is indeed a big deal.
Doug and Bill are truly stand up guys and I'm proud to call them friends. And my thank you Larry for your part in this as well. I've shared your blog post with others suggesting they too can do this in their towns. Bill R

Larry Kelley said...

My pleasure Bill.

Like life insurance, I hope it's something they never have to use.

Walter Graff said...

Yeah for the animals. Unless you have a pet you'd never understand why this is important. Having animal welfare in my blood, little things like this are exciting.

As for paw safe salt, unfortunately it's way too expensive for the average user.

Who is the cutie in the picture?

Larry Kelley said...

Jake Kelley, age 2

Walter Graff said...

Looks very much like a dog that hates human food. In fact I'll bet when you are eating the dog is no where to be found. :)

Labs are my dog of choice. My last girl died in Amherst at age 15.

Larry Kelley said...

He's three quarters black lab and one quarter plathound. And with the amount of exercise he gets I'm sure he will make it to 15.

Bill Dunn said...

The first kit just got delivered today Larry. It's already been placed on Engine 1. Our hope is to have a kit on each Engine. That way we're sure that there will be at least one kit at any fire scene that we respond to. And it goes without saying that hopefully the need to use them will never arise.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah!

Anonymous said...

Good show! And Jake is one cutie.

Marcia T. said...

Excellent!! Is there a link/address for donations?

Larry Kelley said...

AFD is hoping for one more kit. I'll try to track down a link.