It’s not just abandoned and abused animals that Walton Animal Guild is concerned about. The Loganville-based rescue group also takes into account the health and welfare of domestic pets that might be lucky enough to live in loving homes. One of the ways they have done this is with a recent donation to Walton County Fire Rescue of oxygen masks for pets. This donation proved its worth recently when WCFR, along with Monroe and Loganville Fire Departments, responded to a structure fire at 500 H.D. Atha Road in Walton County.

Karen Dean, director of WAG, received notification earlier this week from Jon Marsh, Battalion Chief of the Training Division of WCFR letting her know a dog had been saved because of these masks.

“We bought pet oxygen masks for the Fire Department a while back. I’m glad to see they're working,” Dean said.

Marsh said when the fire department arrived at the location of the Atha Road fire Nov. 18, they found a large outbuilding that was already heavily involved with flames.

“We were notified by the homeowner that he had his pet dog in the outbuilding,” Marsh said. “Our firefighters were able to make entry into the smoke filled building and recover the dog.”

Marsh said the dog was a Boston Terrier and it was suffering from smoke inhalations and shock.

“We applied the rescue mask and within 3 to 4 minutes the dog had recover enough that he was running around as though nothing had happened,” Marsh said.

On Feb. 18 of this year, WAG presented WCFR, with 20 sets of pet oxygen masks, enough to outfit all existing county fire stations. According to WAG, the cone-shaped masks come in sets of three sizes. The masks fit over the pet’s muzzle and provide a steady flow of oxygen through a connection to an oxygen tank. This flow of oxygen can be used to save the life of a dog that might otherwise not survive a fire. Marsh, treating pets for smoke inhalation is not an uncommon occurrence.