What started as every pet owner’s nightmare has spurred a hopeful fundraising campaign to benefit four-legged friends across the province.
In May, dog trainer Dove Cresswell lost nine pets to smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at her Burnaby home. In memory of Cresswell’s animals, long-time friend Elisha McCallum has started a fundraising initiative called Happy Dogs Legacy. She hopes to raise enough money to provide every B.C. fire hall with pet oxygen mask kits.
At the time of the fire, the Burnaby Fire Department had just two pet masks.
“(Pet oxygen masks) are not considered a mandatory piece of equipment,” said McCallum. “I’m surprised (they aren’t) because of the growth of the pet community, and the compassion of first responders.”
The initiative has just reached its $15,000 goal.
The Burnaby Fire department has expressed interest in receiving donated masks from the campaign so it can outfit all its trucks with three-piece kits.
“We are more than happy to accept their donation,” Burnaby fire chief Joe Robertson added.
Robertson said the donations are particularly helpful since the masks are expensive for the department to purchase. According to Robertson, a single kit costs $180.
The response from other fire departments in the province has also been receptive – so much so that McCallum is upping the campaign goal to $25,000 to afford the demand for masks.
“We’ve received requests for 244 oxygen masks, so that’ll cost around $24,000, at least,” said McCallum.
The Burnaby Fire Department is to receive 17 new masks from the campaign and applauds the Happy Dogs Legacy group for the starting the initiative.
“It was a bad news story that some good people turned into a good news story,” said Robertson.
Anyone interested in donating can visit www.fundrazr.com/happydogslegacy
