By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE firefighters responsible for pulling a small dog out of a burning Doveton house and saving its life will receive PETA awards for their bravery.
Members of the Hallam and Dandenong CFA brigades will be given Hero to Animals framed certificates, and letters of appreciation, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), for rescuing the dog, Midnight, last month.
Firefighter Neil Poulton found the surviving dog barely responsive in the front lounge room of the Hawthorn Road house after being called to the burning property.
Midnight was administered with oxygen on-site by volunteer firefighter Dennis Vlug, given water and warmed with a blanket until he recovered.
After being revived, Midnight was taken by neighbours to an animal hospital for treatment and returned to a stable condition.
“The compassion and heroism shown by firefighters of the Country Fire Authority are truly an inspiration”, PETA Australia Director of Campaigns Jason Baker said last week.
“Victorian residents are very fortunate to have emergency personnel who are ready to protect and serve both residents and their beloved animal companions.”
Members from the Hallam Fire Brigade were called to the residence at 11.50am on Sunday, 14 June where the house was already well alight and had fire exiting the front bedroom.
They were soon joined by members from the Dandenong brigade who assisted in dousing the internal blaze.
Senior Station Officer and Incident Controller Michael Lia said Midnight had extremely shallow breathing and was non-responsive to any touch when first discovered.
“The first internal crew had a breathing apparatus with them and were doing a search of the house for any person unaccounted for,” Mr Lia said.
“Everyone had already gotten out and in that search we came across the dogs and brought out the one that showed some signs of life; they pulled that one straight out first.”
A second dog perished in the blaze.
