Oxygen masks specially designed for pets have saved lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
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Firefighters in Titusville, Florida were called to an emergency situation at a home where a gasoline-powered generator had been running when the city lost power. They found two adults, six children and two dogs there suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning and in desperate need of oxygen.
Once they had treated the people firefighters gave the dogs 20 minutes of oxygen each. Thankfully, everybody in the household - both human and animal - survived the ordeal.
The special masks are cylindrical and are designed to fit over an animal's snout. They come in three sizes which can fit anything from a newborn hamster to a foal. The largest supplier of the masks in the US is the not-for-profit company Wag'N O2 Fur Life, owned by Ines de Pablo from Washington. She started her business after hearing that over 800,000 pets had died in Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. She hopes that someday soon every fire and rescue squad will be equipped with the life-saving masks.
