First responders save pets’ lives — even when it’s illegal

The cat wasn’t breathing when firefighters with the Pikesville, Md., Volunteer Fire Company pulled it out of a raging apartment blaze earlier this year. So medics strapped on a special pet-sized oxygen mask, got the kitty inhaling and exhaling again, and then “transported him just like a patient to the 24-hour vet center,” fire Capt. Scott Goldstein recalled. The feline resuscitation was no big deal for the company, nor is it for many others in Maryland. EMS responders in the town of Bel Air saved a cat with CPR and oxygen in February. A fire crew’s little oxygen mask helped a dog breathe better after a house fire in Baltimore County last month. But while such rescues are fairly regular, they are also technically illegal. According to Maryland state law, giving medical care to animals without a veterinary license is punishable by a fine or jail time. Those who dare to do it can also be sued, and the state’s Good Samaritan laws only apply to humans. No one has ever been prosecuted or slapped with a lawsuit for this offense. Even so, Maryland lawmakers this week passed a bill that would make the state the latest to explicitly allow first responders to provide emergency medical aid to animals; it also gives them immunity from being sued for doing so. Ohio passed a similar law last year, and Colorado did in 2014. In all, 22 states now allow emergency crews to provide aid to an animal without fear of prosecution, according to Lisa Radov of Maryland Votes for Animals, which advocated for the legislation.