Shelter Gives 83 Pet Masks

To County Fire Companies

Tool Helps Firefighters Apply ‘Psychic Fire Aid’

Susquehanna Animal Shelter Director Stacie Haynes and her deputy, Becca Daly, pack 83 Surgivet Pet Oxygen Masks for distribution – two per fire department – at this evening’s meeting of the Otsego County Fire Advisory Board at The Meadows.  Haynes told representatives of fire departments from around the county that a homeowner, distraught about losing a pet in a fire last year, donated $2,500 to the shelter for the pet masks in the hope others’ pets can be saved.  The shelter, through fundraisers, raised another $2,500 “and more,” Haynes said, to acquire the $35 devices, which come in three sizes – for dogs, for cats and for smaller pets like birds.  Art Klinger, acting emergency management services director, at left, demonstrates the use of the devices.  “The psychic first aid of seeing someone care for the pet can make all the difference” in calming victims at a fire scene, he said.  (Jim Kevliin/AllOTSEGO.com)