Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team (CDART) representative Cindy Cerne, left, presents Kaleden Fire Chief Darlene Bailey with a set of pet 02 masks, Thursday, July 14, 2016.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
July 15, 2016 - 11:27 AM
PENTICTON - An Okanagan group that aids animals during times of disaster are also working proactively to supply local firehalls with equipment to care for pets in distress due to emergency situations.
Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team representative Cindy Cerne presented Kaleden Fire Chief Darlene Bailey with a set of animal oxygen masks on Thursday, July 14 at the Kaleden firehall.
Cerne says Kaleden was the last remaining hall in the region to receive the masks. She presented two sets of masks to the Penticton Fire Department last month for use in the city’s two firehalls.
The animal response team has been making an effort to supply all local fire departments in the South Okanagan with a set of three masks, which are designed to provide additional oxygen to animals stressed by exposure to smoke from wildfires and residential fires.
They can be used on dogs, cats, guinea pigs - even birds.
“It’s another tool for firefighters who encounter pets who are part of an emergency scene,” Cerne says, noting one of the masks was used by Willowbrook firefighters during a recent incident.
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