K-9 Oxygen Mask Project
| Helping first responders help every member of the familyWhen fire strikes a home, the people inside aren’t the only ones who may need emergency care. Pets rescued from fires can suffer from smoke inhalation and need oxygen quickly. But equipment designed for people isn’t always well suited to an animal’s face and muzzle. Pet oxygen masks give firefighters and EMS professionals another tool to help an animal when every minute matters. That’s why the Olean Kennel Club created our K-9 Oxygen Mask Project: to help put pet oxygen mask kits into the hands of first responders throughout our region. Our goal is ambitious but simple: Equip as many local Fire and EMS departments as we can, you can help us. |
A Four-County Mission
Olean Kennel Club serves a community that stretches across the Pennsylvania–New York border, and we want this project to reflect that.
Our primary focus includes first responders throughout:
- McKean County, Pennsylvania
- Potter County, Pennsylvania
- Cattaraugus County, New York
- Allegany County, New York
Together, these four counties are served by roughly 90 fire departments/stations, along with dozens of ambulance and first-response agencies. We know outfitting every first responder won’t happen overnight. Every kit donated, however, puts lifesaving equipment one step closer to an animal who may need it.
What Is a Pet Oxygen Mask?
Pet oxygen masks are specially shaped to fit over an animal’s muzzle, allowing first responders to administer supplemental oxygen to pets experiencing smoke inhalation or other respiratory emergencies.
The kits purchased through the OKC project include three different mask sizes — small, medium, and large — along with oxygen tubing and supplies designed to make the equipment easy for first responders to store, transport, and use.
Having multiple sizes means a single kit can help responders assist animals of very different shapes and sizes.
How the OKC Project Works
Community support makes this project possible. Donations to the K-9 Oxygen Mask Project are used by Olean Kennel Club to purchase pet oxygen mask kits and place them with Fire and EMS organizations serving communities throughout our area.
As the project grows, we hope to continue identifying departments that need kits, raising the funds to purchase them, and working directly with local first responders to get the equipment into service.
One donated kit becomes one more tool for first responders to use during an emergency — and potentially one more opportunity to save a beloved pet.
Help Us Put More Masks in the Hands of First Responders
Pets are family.
They share our homes, our adventures, our routines, and our lives. Through this project, Olean Kennel Club wants to make sure that when an emergency happens, the first responders working to protect our communities have another resource available to help protect them, too.
Your donation to the K-9 Oxygen Mask Project helps us purchase additional kits and expand the number of local Fire and EMS organizations we can reach.
Help us put more pet oxygen masks where they belong: in the hands of the first responders who may someday need them.
Are You a Local Fire or EMS Department?
If your department serves McKean, Potter, Cattaraugus, or Allegany County and does not currently have access to pet oxygen masks, we’d like to hear from you.
Contact the Olean Kennel Club at oleankennelclub@gmail.com to let us know about your department and its needs.
OLEAN KENNEL CLUB
AN AKC ALL-BREED & PERFORMANCE CLUB
1208 Vine St, Olean, NY 14760
oleankennelclub@gmail.com | (716) 379-3260
Olean Kennel Club is a licensed club of the AKC