A Pinellas County animal shelter is working to make sure all fire stations have the tools they need to rescue animals from fires.
Suncoast Animal League launched Project Revive last week with the goal of raising money for pet oxygen masks.
“We have seen some negative situations where human oxygen masks don’t fit a dog or cat properly,” Suncoast Animal League Executive Director Rick Chaboudy said.
The shelter is looking to raise $7,224 for 111 sets of masks. A set includes a small, medium and large mask.
"When you see somebody lose their home, they lose all their belongings, it’s devastating to them.," Chaboudy said. "And imagine to lose a family member. You can replace pictures, furniture, you can’t replace the dog or cat."
The animals have a better chance of survival when the pet masks are used instead of the oxygen masks made for humans.
“The masks themselves go over the snout and give them a better seal which allows them to get more oxygen,” Lt. Steven Lawrence with St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue said.
St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue said they have used the masks multiple times to save animals.
“If they are unconscious we try and put them on and do whatever we can to revive the animal," firefighter Luis Faz said. "We do CPR and compressions and we put the oxygen on it and we get a good turn out."
The shelter is hoping to raise the money before Christmas to distribute to fire stations in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Highlands counties.
If you would like to donate money to help buy pet oxygen masks, you can do so through the shelter's GoFundMe account.
This Gofundme.com site is not managed by Bay News 9. For more information on how the site works and the rules, visit http://www.gofundme.com/safety