PETS in the Wellington area will have a better chance of surviving household fires – thanks to new oxygen masks for animals being carried on selected fire engines.

Eight fire stations in the Devon and Somerset area, including Wellington, are to get the specially-designed masks which Pets at Home funded through its in-store reward scheme.

Station manager Dean Hastie, of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, said: “I appreciate how important pets can be to some families and individuals. If this goes just that bit further to help improve the chances of survival for a pet, then it’s worth every effort.

“Many pet owners live alone and rely on their company for support, so this is just as important to their welfare as well as the pet in a stressful fire situation.”

Pets at Home donated the money for the sets of masks to Smokey Paws, the not-for-profit organisation trying to help family pets in the event of a fire.

This donation of pet oxygen masks is one of 75 made by Pets at Home to fire stations across the UK, working in partnership with Smokey Paws, which imports the apparatus from the USA.

Fire stations in the US are provided with this equipment as standard but in the UK services are not provided with specific apparatus to resuscitate and treat pets which are unfortunately caught in fires.

Lynn Carberry from Smokey Paws said: “It is with the support and donations from the public and organisations that allow us to give these life-saving oxygen masks to the fire service.

Every day firefighters risk their life to save us and our pets, the least we can do is to give them the right equipment to aid their efforts. We urge everyone to help us and donate what they can as the next pet we asked the firefighters to save could be yours.”

Smokey Paws’ mission is to raise enough money through public donations to equip every first responder in the UK with these lifesaving masks. For more information about Smokey Paws go to its website, www.smokeypaws.co.uk