Dog Donation Comes to RFD

Our pets are extensions of our families.
However, when tragedy strikes our homes, they can be the last ones to receive care.
The Rochester Fire Department aims to change all that, thanks to new equipment that can put your pet on the road to recovery.
 Tina Shively has the story.
 The owner of Bailey, a wild and wooley Wheaten Terrier, is grooming him to be her family's next top dog.
 Bailey's predecessor, Nancy Owens' late dog Duffy, performed pet therapy with children at local hospitals.
 He died when her home caught fire last May.
 She said "Losing a pet and especially losing a therapy animal is like losing part of yourself. It was probably the most painful thing about the whole fire. We lost everything but we couldn't get Duffy back."
 Nancy's grief turned into gratitude.
Members of her pet therapy group "Tales for Tails" wanted to thank the Rochester Fire Department for trying to save Duffy with a certificate, and a donation of 3 pet oxygen masks.
 "They'll be carried by our Battalion Chiefs and our safety officer who respond to all fires in the city," said RFD Public Information Officer Lt. Ted Kuppinger. "So when there's a fire, when there's a need, there's a good chance that one of those officers will be there."
 The masks are the same type of equipment used in vets offices.
Kuppinger believes having them will help families hold on to their best friends for years to come.
 Nancy added "I'm so touched, because maybe, just maybe, somebody else's dog will be saved and they wont have to go through what we went through."