LIFELINE FOR PETS MASKS DONATED TO HELP ANIMALS IN FIRES.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Dogs, cats and other animals pulled from burning houses or evacuated from approaching brush fires will have a better chance of survival, thanks to a gift from a group of Antelope Valley dog owners.

The Antelope Valley Kennel Club donated to the Los Angeles County Fire Department 54 oxygen masks made to fit animals from cats up through large dogs.

``We've had so many fires in our area. ... If dogs get overcome with smoke, it's very hard to bring them back,'' said kennel club board member Betty McGehee. ``We thought if every fire station in the Antelope Valley was equipped with the inhalation masks they'd have a better chance of saving the animals that are overcome.''

The kennel club donated 27 mask sets, each with large and small masks of the type used in veterinarian offices. The large masks can fit medium-size to large dogs. The small masks can fit small dogs like Chihuahuas, as well as cats and even some birds, McGehee said.

``We can try to help them and get them to a vet,'' said fire Inspector Mike McCormick.

The masks, which are strapped over the animal's muzzle, attach to the Fire Department's resuscitators. Firefighters who administer oxygen to animals now must hold masks made for children up to the animal's nostrils.

The kennel club paid more than $1,800 for the masks, using money mostly raised through its semi-annual dog shows. But the club got a deal through a supplier and the masks are worth nearly twice that, McGehee said.

Club members worked on the donation for more than a year and a half, McGehee said.

They were motivated after brush fires in recent summers that swept through the hills around the Antelope Valley, prompting evacuations not only of hundreds of people but of their pets.

During recent fires, McGehee's Leona Valley kennel has taken in dozens of cats and dogs - even goats and chickens.

The masks also will be used for the Fire Department's own specially trained dogs.

Fire Capt. Carrie Henger was given one of the masks for her retriever">Labrador retrievers, Sprocket and Doc.

Doc is a search dog, certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who worked in La Conchita after the Jan. 10 mudslide that killed 10 people.

Sprocket is trained to sniff out the scent of gasoline, kerosene or other ``accelerants'' in the charred remains of suspicious fires.

Charles F. Bostwick, [phone]

chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Fire Capt. Carrie Henger uses Labrador retriever Sprocket, trained for sniffing out arson, as a model for an animal oxygen mask.

(2 -- ran in SAC edition only) Labrador retriever Sprocket, trained for sniffing out arson, models an animal oxygen mask.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer