Revived Dog Sparks Push for Pet Oxygen Masks

On the note was just a single sentence.

"Wrigley and I have had enough," it said.

Then the Clearwater man served his beloved bulldog a meal, a mixture of meats, took a hose and put one end on his car's tailpipe. He put the other end into his mobile home, said Rick Chaboudy, executive director of the Humane Society of Pinellas Inc., who had been called to the scene to help the dog.

The man, who was in his 40s, turned the key in the ignition and waited to die, Chaboudy said.

When the two were found, 15 feet apart, the man appeared to be dead.

But the dog was still alive. Rescuers rushed him out of the house and frantically tried to revive him by pumping oxygen through a tube down his throat.

The dog lived. And soon, Pinellas County dogs like Wrigley or those who are victims of fire and smoke inhalation, will have a better option than the oxygen tube or masks made for people, not animals.

The Humane Society of Pinellas is asking the public to help buy specially designed animal oxygen masks for emergency vehicles throughout the county, which number about 120, Chaboudy said.

The first to receive them was the Safety Harbor Fire Department, which received four sets on Monday, thanks to a donation by City Commissioner Kara Bauer.

"Our goal is to put a mask set in every emergency vehicle in the county," Chaboudy said. "We expect it will cost over $6,000 when we're finished."

Each set costs $45 and contains reusable snout-shaped masks designed to fit small, medium and large dogs. The small masks also fit cats. Rescuers will undergo special training to learn to use them correctly.

A tube connects the mask to a tank and pumps pure oxygen into the animal's nose and mouth.

Bauer got the Humane Society to start the program after reading an article about the masks in Newsweek.

"I said, "I wonder if we have these?' " said Bauer, who adopted her family's two Lab mixes, Otis Earl and Sadie Sue, from the Humane Society. "So I called Rick (Chaboudy) and said, "Do we have these?' He said, "No.' I said, "Why?' He said, "Money.' I said, "Well, how much can they be?' And it went on from there.

"When he said "money,' that is not a good answer. There's always a way."

Wrigley survived, but an animal mask could have allowed him to get oxygen more efficiently. Although he was revived, a vet warned Chaboudy that the dog's brain "could be soup."

After being rescued, the 2-year-old couldn't stand and didn't appear to be able to see or hear. The dead man's family did not want the dog to suffer, and asked Chaboudy to euthanize him if he showed any signs of being in pain.

But later, when Chaboudy paid him a visit, Wrigley wagged his tail.

"Then he licked my hand and started kissing me," Chaboudy said. "We took him outside and he was wobbly, but he saw a butterfly and he followed the butterfly for about 20 feet, so we knew he could see."

Chaboudy said Wrigley slowly improved, and was recently adopted into a loving home. He plans to use Wrigley as the poster dog to raise funds for more animal oxygen masks.

"Maybe this was his purpose," Chaboudy said. Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com. TO HELP If you would like to help the Humane Society of Pinellas purchase pet oxygen masks, call (727) 797-7722. Each set costs $45.