Smarty Sunday: There Goes Our Hero!

Hi everyone! It's me, Sammy-Joe, here with another Smarty Sunday! Last week I shared kind of a sad news story about a police officer who pepper-sprayed a baby squirrel. So today, I thought I'd share a happier story involving humans and animals! This happened in our hometown city, Chicago!

Two dogs... a pitbull and a Boston terrier mix puppy, were at home yesterday, when their apartment building caught on fire! The dogs were on the enclos

ed back porch, but they couldn't escape the building. It seemed like they were doomed!

Then, a firefighter named Tammy Rodriguez found them! Both were in b

ad condition. The Boston Terrier was injured, and the pitbull was in cardiac arrest.

Rodriguez, who has three dogs of her own, got right to work at saving the dogs' lives. First, she pulled them both out of the building, getting them to safety. Then, as other firefighters worked on putting out the fire, Rodriguez put specially-fitted pet oxygen masks on the dogs.

The pitbull was unconscious and seemed to be lifeless. But the firefighter thought to herself, "Oh my God, I can't just let this dog die!" So she did CPR on the dog. Finally the pitbull started breathing again, opened his eyes, and actually stood up! He wagged his tail and licked Rodriguez's face!

The pitbull is now fine, and is back with his owner. The injured puppy is still being monitored at an animal hospital.

I'm so happy these two doggies were rescued! Our Mama says she always worries that this could happen to us someday when no humans are home, and she s

ure hopes someone would rescue us! One thing humans can do is order this free decal from the ASPCA. Its a window cling, not a sticker, so you can take it with you if you move. It says, "In case of emergency... ANIMALS INSIDE!" Humans, you can check off how many dogs, cats, and other animals you have, and put down your emergency phone number, so rescuers know how many pets to look for and how to reach you. It might help to get two of these, so you can have one on your front door and one on your back door! You could also use this free, customizable decal. This one allows you to put your pet's picture, name and nickname, and favorite hiding place. If you have more than one animal, though, you might have to order one for each pet! If you want to pay a little bit of money, you can also find lots of different decals on Amazon and other sites.

One more thing... Tammy Rodriguez used specially fitted oxygen masks to save these dogs! Human oxygen masks don't fit animals as well and therefore don't work a

s well. It would be like putting an adult oxygen mask on a newborn baby. Find out if your town's fire department has pet oxygen masks. Ideally. they should own small, medium and large pet masks, for large dogs, medium and small dogs and cats, and small animals like rabbits. If they don't, you can put them in touch with Wag'n Pet Safety Gear. The department can buy a kit, or even get financial aid to get a kit donated. Or, people

can donate kits to their local fire departments and police departments for $65.00 each.

Tammy Rodriguez, you're our hero! Thanks for knowing how

important pets are, and taking the time to save these two!

(Tammy Rodriguez with the pitbull she saved.)