Oxygen masks donated for Pingree Grove pets

Thanks to a recent donation of nine oxygen masks, Pingree Grove pets and their owners can breathe a little easier.

Invisible Fence, a Chicago-based group that creates the devices by the same name, gave three kits to the Pingree Grove Fire Protection District, each of which contains three masks, said Kristin Rogers, Invisible Fence's donation coordinator.

The group also gave masks to fire departments and districts in Hoffman Estates, Hanover Park, Lisle, Woodridge and Park Forest, Rogers said.

Pingree Grove authorities are keeping two kits on a pair of ambulances and one more on a support vehicle, said Bill Meisner, the shift supervisor responsible for all emergency medical services.

They can use the masks - which come in three different sizes - on dogs, cats, puppies, kittens and sometimes other small animals, such as birds or gerbils,

Earlier this week, the company demonstrated how the masks work on a dog at the main fire station on Plank Road.

More than 40,000 pets nationwide died in fires in 2006, with the majority of those perishing from smoke inhalation, Rogers said.

Meisner only knows of two pets in the district that died last year in fires.

"We don't have a whole lot of problems, but it would be almost like buying a cardiac monitor," he said. "I can't tell you what we're going to do tomorrow, but potentially, we could have a need for it in the future."

Every fire department and district qualifies for the free masks, Rogers said. They just need to ask.