Fire Department Service Calls For Animals

A lady had two horses. The male got his feet tangled in rope and was down. I don't know why animal control was not called instead but so be it. One other firefighter and I showed up, neither of us had experience but knew we'd have to get the hell out of the pen before the horse got back up. We untangled his feet, I unnecessarily said run and we both jumped over the fence immediately.

We've had more of these than I can remember but they are fun calls. The snakes are stunning. We have a long handled grabber and a bucket. You pick the snake up close to the head, put him in the bucket but before you release the grabber, you put the lid back on as much as you can and then slide the grabber out. We then drive him to a spot to release out into the forest.

This was funny. The caller was apparently terrified of snakes, just terrified. And he called us to relocate a non-poisonous gopher snake. The snake tried to get away, starting to go behind the refrigerator. Fortunately I caught him mid-body with the grabber and he bucked like crazy. When we were walking the bucket out to the forest to release him, he started to thump the lid. We let him out and he lunged at us.

Not really a call for service but funny. This was long before I was chief, there was a stray at the fire house who they managed to tether to a pole but then couldn't get near the dog for whatever reason. They called me because my wife knows about dogs. I told you this is funny. I get there, open the hatch of our 4Runner and open the crate I have back there. I walk to the dog, paying no attention to it, take the leash/rope of the pole, he walks back with me to the car, I say "ok, let's go" and he jumped right in and I left the group dumbfounded.

I've told this story before. But shortly after we got an oxygen mask (Fido Bag) for dogs donated by The Fetch Foundation, we used it as pictured in a vehicle accident that sent the person and the dog flying. Three different departments were called, we were last on scene and people said, no one is taking care of the dog. Here's my exact thought process that took about 15 seconds. "Holy shit, what are we going to do? Matt, go get the Fido Bag." Thank God, I remembered we had it. The paper used my photo. We held the mask close but did not force it and after a couple of seconds the dog slid his muzzle right in.

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