Oxygen masks for animals donated to Modesto fire, Stanislaus Consolidated

Two area fire agencies each received 15 oxygen mask kits specially designed to save the lives of pets. The kits were donated to the Modesto Fire Department and Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District by Project Breathe, a charity of the company Invisible Fence of California. Monte Vista Small Animal Hospital in Turlock also donated 11 kits to the Modesto Fire Department in August. One kit will be on board every engine and the remainder will be held as a reserve, although the masks are designed to be washed and reused. Each kit costs $75 and comes with three masks of varying sizes. During a press conference Tuesday, Sara Leimgruber, hospital director of Turlock’s Monte Vista animal hospital, and Bryan Medrano, a service tech with Invisible Fence, demonstrated how to use one of the smaller masks on a Boston terrier named Batman.

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Oxygen masks for animals donated to Modesto fire, Stanislaus Consolidated."