Animals rescued from fires will have a higher chance of survival thanks to the oxygen masks kits donated recently to Killeen and Lorena Fire Departments by Warriors for Shelter Pets organization, a student organization at Texas A&M- Central Texas. Each kit costing between $70 and $75 contained three oxygen masks of varying sizes and enough were donated that each emergency vehicle in Killeen and Lorena would have a kit.

The idea to donate oxygen masks came from seeing another organizations asking for donations to purchase the masks after the Colorado wildfires incident.

According to Vice President and co-founder, Ashley Rains, if an animal was in a fire and had smoke inhalation, they would need immediate attention and would most likely not survive a trip to the hospital.

The oxygen masks would increase the chances of survival, especially since human oxygen masks are a struggle to use on animals.

The organization started raising funds for the masks in the Fall semester at various events such as the Welcome Back picnic and the Frost Fest in Harker Heights and raised funds for four to five months.

The fire departments have expressed their thanks to the organization with Killeen’s receiving 18 kits and Lorena receiving 2 kits.

They are looking to raise funds to provide masks for the fire department in Nolanville. They have asked the Harker Heights department if there was a need but the department has stated they had enough masks.

Formed last summer, the non-profit organization was founded by President Richard Kukucka III and Vice President Ashley Rains with a focus on promoting adoption, spay/neuter, and proper animal care in the Central Texas area and are made up of all volunteers.

The organization currently has 20+ members and will continue to grow as the university grows.

You can learn more about Warriors for Shelter Pets by going to their Facebook page.